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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 11, 1984)
Wednesday, January 11, 1984/The Battalion/Page 3 Reactions to 'Amelia': Movie about incest draws praise, ‘tearful reactions^ United Press International “Something about Amelia,” a llrama depicting the taboo sub let of incest, was rated Tuesday [me of the most-watched TV movies ever. Child abuse centers reported a flood of tearful calls, nany with the theme, “I thought [was the only one it happened Child care experts lauded the novie about a Fictional 13-year- ild girl who was forced into a exual relationship with her ather as a realistic portrayal of a widespread problem. A heavy phone response to he movie was reported by Pa- ents United Inc., a non-profit reatment and crisis organiza- jlj ionwith 1 lOchapters in the Un ted Stales and Canada and S ieadquarters in San lose, Calif. “We have six (phone) lines :oming in and they’ve been lit all light and morning,” said wkesman Chuck Juliano. “Fin- lly we had to just slop answer ing them about 3 a.m. and col lapse. But we started up right away this morning.” Juliano said most of the calls were from adult women who wanted to talk about their ex periences being molested as lit tle girls. “Most of them were crying when they called,” Juliano saief. “Mostly they seemed relieved. They said things like, ‘I thought I was the only one it happened to.’” Juliano said some of the calls were from girls saying they had been or were being victimized. “We advise them of the re sources available to them and we turn them over to one of our counselors for further follo wup,” he said. “We got about 60 calls last night and the phones haven’t stopped ringing all morning,” said Lorraine Spaulding, volun teer counselor for Incest Survi vors, a non-profit offshoot of Analysis ABC’s ‘Amelia’ tastefully done by Bonnie Langford Battalion Staff Another television taboo has teen broken, but this time taste- ully, and a local foster parent ho deals with incest victims ays the movie “Something ab ut Amelia’’ gave an excellent rtrayal of the problems of in test. Chuck Bruegger, a foster ather at Sheltering Arms, a ihelter for battered children in he Bryan/College Station area, aid incest is a problem that aeeds to be dealt with. "People who commit incest need help,” he said. "This sub ject doesn’t need to be hidden iway in a closet,” The ABC made-for-television movie aired Monday night, and touched on a subject that pre viously had been avoided not only by network television, but by society in general. Though “Something about Amelia” had the potential to be sensationalized, ABC produced asensitive piece of drama, while apparently trying to help victims of this crime. The story portrayed an aver- : middle class family. They live in a two-story house with a two-car garage and attend church on Sunday. The father’s only visible vice is two-pack-a- day cigarette habit; the mother’s, an occasional glass of iwine. But something isn’t right ab out Amelia; she shies away from Iher father. She runs away from Iherdate when he tries to dance lose to her. Amelia is a tense, frightened 13-year-old girl and loxana Zal did an excellent job (with the role. Her father, played by Ted 'anson of the NBC comedy show “Cheers,” seems like a great guy. He gels concerned about her first date, like any father would, but Danson leaves the feeling that there is more jealousy than fatherly concern. -HSplf 5. ./ill# won)* 1 - long' tiers iiaini* 1 tied # 2 wn |(l ; tiic/ s let# Ed# -Ml# i FritK for It* ion! JSSP' 1 : Do# ton, T -ively 1 PROFESSOR! PUBLISHING Here’s how it works : Professors organize a selection of class readings (check copyright law for legal use of material) and drop the master off at Kinko’s. Kinko's will - - Duplicate it - Assemble Custom Notebooks ■ Distribute them to your students at a reduced rate Our Professor Publishing Plan is available at no cost to you or your department- kinko's copies 201 COLLEGE MAIN 846-8721 Parents Anonymous of Georgia. She said her agency in Atlanta received calls from “a lot of mothers who suspect something is happening in their family and tried to ignore it but now want to know what to do.” Terry McGrath, spokesman for New York Department of Social Services, said a special hotline got double the number of calls usually received. “Last night we got an addi tional 150 calls directly related to the show,” he said. “The ma jority were adults who said they had been victims of sex abuse as children and were looking for counseling.” Grace Erickson, director of, the YWCA Rape-Relief Center in Frankfurt, Ky., said her agen cy received an average of four reports of incest a week. She cal led it a “common” problem in society and said, “I hope the taboo against talking about in cest will be broken as a result of last night’s televised docu- drama.” Joyce Thomas, director of Children’s Hospital’s Division of Child Protection in Washington D.C., said the problem of incest was “sensitively and believably captured.” The New York switchboard of ABC Television received ab out 250 calls Monday night — 160 in favor of the movie and 90 against, said Tom Mackin, direc- _tor of program information. In Virginia, a Roanoke circuit rt judge Tuesday cited the de in declaring a mistrial be- No-kill animal shelter not loved by neighbors court movie cause of prejudicial publicity in the case of a man accused of rap ing his girlfriend’s 13-year-old daughter. Under questioning by Judge Ernest Ballou, most jurors said they had not read news stories about the case or seen the TV movie, but defense attorney Randy Leach argued that the case had been prejudiced by the publicity about incest. National ratings were not in yet, but the average of six over night markets of Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Philadel phia, Detroit and San Francisco was a 36.6 percent rating and 51 percent share of the viewing au dience. Each rating percentage point is worth 838,000 homes, Mackin said. “Something about Amelia” was among the highest-rated TV movies. The six-market rat ings were two to three times higher than average, though lower than the 52.2 percent rat ing and 68 percent share for “The Day After" and the 60.3 percent rating and 70 percent share for the last episode of M*A*S*H, Viewers aren’t given proof of the true relationship between father and daughter. In fact, the audience doesn’t know Amelia has been telling the truth until her mother says she believes her. “Something About Amelia” didn’t have a happy ending. With an estimated nine million Americans involved in incest, it couldn’t. But it did leave a feel ing of hope. ABC compounded this hope with a follow-up on “Nightline,” their nightly news program. They interviewed a family faced with a similar situa tion, a victim of incest, a man whocommited incest, and sever al counselors involved in help ing solve the problem. All of the people interviewed seemed satisfied with the movie’s pre sentation of the problem and the solution. The Bryan/College Station area is not immune to the prob lem. Incest is shocking but real, says Bruegger. Though Bruegger believes people who commit incest prob ably didn’t watch the movie, he says there is hope that a victim or the mother of a victim would fin ally admit the problem exists and needs to be taken care of. In the movie, Amelia blames herself for her father’s actions, and Bruegger said that is how victims usually react. “Most victims feel responsible and carry guilt about the inci dent,” he says. “Even though it is the fault of the authority figure, people go through life with this guilt. Adults ... (also) can carry the guilt; these people need counseling also.” Locally there are several places to turn for help with cur rent or past incest problems. Among them are: Rape Crisis Hotline — 779-7273, Texas A&M Counseling — 845-4427, Mental Health-Mental Retarda tion Authority of Brazos Valley — 696-8585 and Twin City Mis sions — 822-7511. United Press International CONYERS, Ga. — A judge said Tuesday “love for animals” will not influence his decision in a hearing that may determine whether 1,996 unwanted dogs, cats and rabbits live or die. The animals, once homeless strays, are being cared for by Ann and Jerry Fields, operators of the no-kill Life for Cod’s Stray Animals, a four-acre facility where animals that are not adopted are allowed to live out their lives. A group of nine property owners filea suit asking the shel ter be declared a public nuisance and closed because of the noise and odor. They also seek an un specified sum for “special dam ages.” “The court has been bom barded with letters and com munications in connection with this matter,” said Superior Court Judge Clarence Vaughn Jr., who is hearing the case with out a jury. He said his decision would not be influenced by the letters and “the issue of love for animals.” Vaughn’s office said it had re ceived some 500 letters concern ing the hearing, some from fore ign countries. Most of the letters voiced support of the shelter and its continued operation. The suit also includes county officials among the defendants, charging they did not enforce county laws in dealing with the shelter. Neil Gordon, one of the lawyers representing the Fields, told Vaughn “this animal shelter is unique in this county, this state and even the nation. It allows animals to live rather than be put to sleep.” He also told Vaughn “this question ought to be decided by a jury” and renewed his request for a jury trial. Attorneys for the shelter said charges the facility is a public nuisance are “either unfounded or grossly exaggerated.” Gor don said in light of the way the county deals with homeless dogs and cats, “it really is the lives of 1,100 animals that are at stake.” Lee Parks, an attorney for the homeowners, said the shelter is located in a residential area and some residents “live within 500 feet of noise levels that are beyond any acceptable level.” He said homeowners in the area also must endure bad odors and property values have dropped. 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