MovieChat Forums > The Lena Baker Story (2008) Discussion > Sorry but I didn't really feel sorry for...

Sorry but I didn't really feel sorry for her.

posted 9 years ago by Born_Tomorrow
2 replies | jump to latest

I know that I live in a totally different time than she did and I know that things were different back then but after watching this movie many different times and doing some online research, I really hate to say this, especially since I am a black woman myself but it seems to me that she was in a consensual relationship with this man...a highly dysfunctional, consensual relationship but I believe it was consensual, nonetheless. I also believe that she was using him to supply her alcohol and a little money on the side. Even when his son came and beat her up, she never once said "I don't want to be here. Your father is taking me against my will" and when her mother's employer asked "Does Lena want to be there?" the mother said "I don't know". Now that doesn't sound like someone that was being kidnapped and held captive on a regular basis. I've never been in her shoes, I wasn't around back then and I didn't know her personally so I can't say for sure, only what I got from the story and to me, that's what it looks like. Now that's not to say that if she was in a relationship with him that she deserved to be held captive or that she was wrong for killing him just because she chose to be in a relationship with this man and at the point of his death, it may have been self defense. However, what I am saying is that I believe that there was more to this situation than just a one sided "relationship" and I don't believe that she was a totally innocent victim. IMO, she also had a large part to play in what happened to her. If anyone really wants a sad story about an innocent black victim of the death penalty, by the electric chair, in the rural south, then research and read about the story of George Stinney, Jr., which took place around the same time.

Sorry but I just had to get this off of my chest.

All typos and misspellings courtesy of a public educational system.

[–] BlackVelvetGlove 8 years ago

Even when his son came and beat her up, she never once said "I don't want to be here. Your father is taking me against my will" and when her mother's employer asked "Does Lena want to be there?" the mother said "I don't know". Now that doesn't sound like someone that was being kidnapped and held captive on a regular basis.

I'll have to read more about her case, but I haven't seen info indicating that she consented to a relationship with the old man. Being dragged while kicking and screaming, and being held at gunpoint don't seem to say that she was there of her own will. The film portrayed Lena as having an overly obliging nature, to the point where her friend Nettie convinced her to make poor choices, like prostituting herself. It's not surprising that the old man also could have coerced her—initially. Especially since they shared their griefs with each other at first.

But perhaps the film's script didn't adequately convey her unwillingness to be there, or perhaps the script accurately reflected what was a side effect of the times. Do you remember the scene when Lena and the other kids were in the field and the man with the gun hushed the boy (Royal?) when he tried to defend Nettie? Royal didn't say or do anything bad, yet the man told him that he had a smart mouth (or something to that effect) and threatened him. When you're used to that type of treatment, you don't complain. This scene indicated that she, as a black person, learned to keep quiet about being mistreated or exploited.

Also, if you're over a certain age and experienced how people were treated in those days, it could have been a sure and sudden death for her if she told the son that his father was holding her captive. He had no problem with beating her severely; who's to say that he wouldn't have killed her if she told the son what was actually happening versus what he thought was happening? Since you're black, you know how black people were—and still are—encouraged to not make a fuss, accept mistreatment, and feel grateful for inappropriate behavior and the least scrap of attention, whether positive or negative. That's one of the long-lasting "legacies" from that time.

But, as you say, we weren't there with them and don't know everything said and done.

---
"Will you be okay on the futon?"
"Oh, the futon. Isn't that Japanese for 'insomnia'?"

[–] Born_Tomorrow 8 years ago

Thanks for your reply. I must say that you make some really good points that I really didn't consider before making this post. However, I do believe that she was using him to supply her with alcohol. From what I've read, their relationship was not as one sided as the movie portrays. After doing some research, it seemed that they were in a very dysfunctional and hazardous relationship. On the day that he locked her in the shed, he had come to her house to get her and after some back and forth, she willingly left in the middle of the night. Perhaps this was because she didn't want to wake her kids so I'll give her that but she didn't leave kicking and screaming. She didn't mind going with him, she just didn't want him to lock her in the shed, which is understandable. I wouldn't want to be locked in a shed either but the movie should have made this clear. Anyway, she had already been drinking all day and when he came to her house, the first thing she asked him was if he had any whisky. He told her that he only had some homebrew and then gave her the money to go and buy some whiskey and then meet him at the shed. She did express to him that she didn't want to go to the shed because she was afraid. I don't know whether she was afraid because he would lock her up for days at a time or if she was afraid that his son would find her in there and beat her half to death again. Most likely she was afraid of both. However, he didn't want to hear it and told her to meet him in the shed after she bought her whisky. After she bought the whiskey she ended up passing out in somebody's field and waking up at dawn wet from dew. She then decided to walk home, believing that she had shook Knight and he would have given up on her returning and went to sleep. It seemed like she was trying to make a fool out him by getting his money and not returning with the whiskey. However, as she past the shed, she saw that he was still waiting on her. Then he told her to get in the shed. At that point, she agreed but told him that she was only going to sleep there for the rest of the morning and asked him to wake her in time to go to church with her mother and children. However, he purposely didn't wake her in time for church but instead, slept in a chair blocking the door so she couldn't leave. By the time she woke up, it was late morning and she had missed church. That's when she started telling him that she wanted to leave. Instead he went to church with one of his sons and left her in the shed. Eventually, he returned with some food but even then, she was more concerned with her whiskey than eating. Then she started to fuss about needing to leave and what would happen if she didn't show up to help her mother with the wash. That's where the movie picks up.

I think that the movie should have been more honest and showed the true nature of their relationship. The movie made it look like she had been clean and sober for years and that he was forcing her to drink. However, in actuality, she was an active alcoholic, that would often go out drinking with her friends and come home drunk, which caused her mother and her to argue a lot. In fact, her kids seemed to have been raised by their grandmother and referred to her as "mama". Also, the movie made their relationship seem onesided and that she was afraid of him. However, her mother obviously didn't think so. She would often tell Lena to leave that man alone because their relationship was unhealthy and they would fight often, leaving her with black eyes. Also, his son had once beat her within an inch of her life because he caught her in the shed with his father, after one of their arguments. They would argue so much and so loudly that the neighbors started to complain to his sons. I'm not saying that their relationship was mutual. I'm sure that there was some intimidation involved, just because of the culture and society in that time period. However, I don't think that she was that afraid of him and that she wasn't there on her own freewill. I think that they were drawn together because they were both serious alcoholics. I think that it was a highly dysfunctional, abusive and controlling, relationship that was triggered by alcoholism, from both parties.

All typos and misspellings courtesy of a public educational system.