It sounded like there may have been two....the one in the film and the girls' dad; the other family's daughter and maybe son seemed to be affected by the girls' dad also, that is what the girl implied being "freaked out to be alone" with the dad...and of course the whole playing with their dads penis!
shareI agree completely...the girls talk about playing with their dad's penis without a hint of irony. It's also extremely unfortunate that the parents of these girls continued to stay friends with Alan's family. I'm disturbed that the parents looked the other way and were ineffectual...and also, that the women feel that confronting Alan will do any good. With abuse, it's yourself that you have to love, and forgive. Confronting an abuser doesn't transform the pain, it confuses thw confronter. Notice how Celeste brushes off her pain, but doesn't seem to be able to move beyond it, or get beyond identifying herself as a victim. This movie is disturbing in so many ways...not just the abuse, but the ineffectual constant rehashing and the utter denial of the parents culpability and crossing the lines of appropriate parental behavior. The daughters give their mom a "pass" by blaming the 70s attitude of "let's just be normal", and thus excuse her. And it's obvious the mother wants to continue her denial; she even asks if this whole deal is "worth it" and whether it's really a important or not. Confronting Alan will never help these two women move beyond their shame and embarrassment. Only working on themselves and granting themselves forgiveness and moving beyond the victim mentality will allow them to live their lives as whole people. Also, ya gotta stop blaming others for your own inability to trust and relate to people...that's a cop-out.
sharejmeredith, You summed it up beautifully that it's yourself you have to love & forgive. People who haven't been abused may not understand the need to forgive yourself, but it's true that most if not all abuse survivors feel guilty for their perceived part in the abuse.
I saw very little value in Celesta & her sister confronting the abuser. Maybe it helped them in the long run, but in the moment it just felt sickening & non-cathartic.
That was the thing that made the film so uncomfortable, none of the people seemed to realize the dad being inappropriate made the girls easier targets for a molestor. If they don't think it's wrong to touch their dad's penis they won't think it's wrong to touch the neighbor's penis.
Since noone wanted to question the parents behavior, the documentary seemed to be pointless, because they're acting as if the family was normal and safe and the neighbor was Mr Creepy who invaded their lives,when the family's enviroment wasn't healthy, and even as adults they don't want to discuse how bad things were. And when the neighbor said he didn't know if their dad molester anyone and they both seemed relieved it showed they had some suspecions.
I agree. The family of the man who molested them indicated strongly that Celeste and Karen's father had molested THEM in return. They said things like, "We were scared to be around your father...I have blank spaces in my memory when it comes to your father..." etc. I believe more may have been said that was not put in the film. In any case, the girls brushed that aside, as well as the comments about their father molesting them (Ex. asking them to touch him and touching them inappropriately in the shower).
I believe that their father AND the neighbor knew about what each other was doing with their own children, and I believe that they exchanged children, knowing what would occur, and allowing it to occur.
Unfortunately, confronting the man who molested them will not get to the root of the problem. They both need time to heal and confront all of the abuse that took place. Until they can move past the denial, they will never heal. Their mother needs help and therapy as well.
I wish that the girls themselves had not been behind this documentary. I think that a third party directing it and asking probing questions (and editing the film properly) could have better served both the women and the audience.