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.
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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.
Mrs. Fields, the first witness,
testified the shelter is not an
adoption agency.
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