Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,
I didn't see The Burning Bed when it first aired on NBC in 1984, but I certainly heard about it.
Based on the 1980 non-fiction book by Faith McNulty, it's the story of Francine Hughes, just another battered wife––until March 9, 1977, when she set fire to the bed where her drunk, passed out ex-husband, Mickey Hughes, slept.
Four children and god only knows how many beatings later, Francine couldn't get any help from the police because they didn't see him hit her, and never mind the marks of his hands around her neck and the bruises.
Mickey also couldn't keep a job, and wouldn't allow Francine to work.
She was told all the typical shit women hear:
You have to take the bitter with the sweet. He's changed. He isn't drinking anymore. You chose to marry him. Now you have to deal with it. He's your husband and he misses you and the kids. That's the way men are. You shouldn't make him upset. You started it yourself.
She managed to divorce him in April, 1971, so she could get welfare, but he ignored the divorce and said she couldn't keep the kids from him. That summer when he was seriously injured in an accident, she felt she had to help him. In return for her kindness, the abuse worsened. She had gone back to school to take a secretarial course. On that last night, he knocked her around and forced her to burn her school books. She called the police. Yet again, they refused to help even though he stated in front of officers “it was all over” for her. Later, he raped her and beat her.
“I was thinking about all the things that had happened to me…all the times he had hurt me . . . how he had hurt the kids,” Francine told People. “I stood still for a moment, hesitating, and a voice urged me on. It whispered, ‘Do it! Do it! Do it!’”*
Francine put the children in the car. She poured gasoline around the bed. She lit the match.
Then she drove to the jail in Dansville, Michigan, to turn herself in.
It was a landmark case that established the concept of "burning bed syndrome." Francine was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity. It also drew attention to domestic abuse in a time when men were still thought to "own" their wives, and as such, could punish them. Abuse was considered a family issue that should be handled in private. “'Do we break up a marriage simply because a man beats his wife?' asked New York City Councilman Leon A. Katz in a typical exchange with a group of advocates that testified in front of the city’s public safety committee in 1976."**
Domestic violence hasn't ended. It never will. But now we have shelters for women, and sometimes the police make arrests.
As for Francine Hughes, she remarried in 1980, became an LPN, and died in 2017 at age 69.
Now back to the movie. It's streaming on Prime Video so I watched it. It's excellent and still relevant.
The violence aimed at Francine is pretty graphic. At times it upset me––especially the final beating––but I recognize the need for it. Sometimes the only way to reach people is to shock them.
Unless you're Dr. Oz, who is beyond reach.
Infinities of love,
Janie Junebug
*https://www.history.com/news/burning-bed-syndrome-francine-hughes-domestic-abuse
**ibid. I'm not sure why but this statement makes me think of Dr. Oz saying that abortion access should be left to women, doctors, and local political leaders––maybe because it's so stupid, or maybe because Leon A. Katz was so obviously unqualified to comment on abuse and had no problem with advocating that women should not have protection under the law.
I think I saw the original movie when it aired and I certainly know the important change in the law made by the case. It was a watershed case alright.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that it helped to bring about change. It's just never enough.
DeleteHOW I wish that this was not still relevant. For too many women. World wide.
ReplyDeleteSame here. The issues surrounding abuse never end. Many men still believe themselves to be in charge, so it's okay for them to order women around and punish them.
DeleteOh I remember that movie quite well it was an excellent movie. Some scoffed at the violence in the movie. But I thought it was brilliant and was very representative of what people in those situations goes through, and it needed to be seen. And had I been in her shoes, I might have done the same.
ReplyDeleteI was quite impressed by it. I can understand why she did it.
DeleteDr. Oz is a deceitful, incompetent, self-important, greedy son of a bitch. Farrah Fawcett was a huge surprise in that movie. What a powerful and awful story.
ReplyDeleteYou obviously understand Dr. Oz. Oprah has said she supports Fetterman, but I don't think she has apologized for foisting Dr. Oz on the world.
DeleteAnother viewer from long ago. I was never brought to quite the same place, but close to it.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry it was so bad for you that you were even close. I was close at one point, too.
DeleteI saw the movie years ago and was very impressed with FF's acting chops.
ReplyDeleteI understand the why's also.
Farrah turned out to be an excellent actress.
DeleteIf the religious right in the USA gains much more political influence the status of women will revert back to medieval times.
ReplyDeleteIt's already bad enough here.
DeleteI'd not heard of this case before. I am surprised she could get off on temporary insanity. It seems to me that she was at her most sane at that moment. But I suppose in those days with all those arguments she wouldn't have been seen to be. Horrific. And as you say, abuse has never ceased. On my blog today I write about the rugby match this afternoon between Wales and the All Blacks. I love rugby but am horrified to discover that on international match days, domestic abuse goes up, regardless of the game result.
ReplyDeleteThat's awful. I wonder if abuse increases on days of big football games in the U.S.
DeleteI saw the original movie a very long time ago. It needed to be seen. We're still not where we should be with domestic abuse. We need to keep working on this!
ReplyDeleteYes. It's a desperate situation for so many women and children.
DeleteI remember seeing this movie when it aired. I grew up during the 50s and early 60s when women had few rights. I was raped and beaten in 1968 when the police assumed I must have been asking for it because I was walking three blocks home alone in the dark. Times had changed, but it feels like we might be headed back there with our recent Supreme Court decision. Sad.
ReplyDeleteI'm very upset about the trump appointees to the court.
DeleteI watched the movie when it first came out and was surprised by Farrah Fawcett's excellent performance. There have been great improvements in the law, but there's still a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteIt can still be a matter of "we didn't see it so it didn't happen."
Delete