Defending Our Lives

Lest I'm misunderstood, when it comes to the subject of domestic violence, and more specifically battered women, there aren't two sides to the issue--it's as wrong as wrong can be. But you can present information poorly, and Defending Our Lives offers an exemplary case of misusing the documentary format. Sarah Buel, a Massachusetts D.A. and victim of domestic violence, tells a seminar audience that 50% of all women will be in a violent relationship (this from an unspecified F.B.I. source), that battered women who kill receive higher sentences than any other type of defendant including serial rapists and murderers (this from an unspecified N.Y. study), and says that "if you haven't been...stabbed...or chased across state lines," among many other violent acts, you should consider yourself "blessed." While Buel has every right to be outraged and to share her outrage with others, the perspective--that women who aren't stabbed, etc. are in the minority--seems more than a little stretched. The bulk of the film, however, consists of interviews with five battered women who are serving time for killing their abusers. The stories they tell are both horrifying and emotionally wrenching, but because the filmmakers are silent and invisible, the film asks us to make judgments based on each woman's testimony alone. This is outrageous and totally unfair to the audience. 12 men and women in each of those cases heard several witnesses, presumably, and examined available evidence presented by members of the prosecution and defense. When one woman, with well-rehearsed dramatic pauses, tells us that she spent over 3 years in a hidden away prison cell awaiting trial--accused of murder because two men who said they would "talk" to her boyfriend about his abuse, beat him to death with baseball bats instead--we know there's much more to this story. While the issue of domestic violence--which is unquestionably much larger than many suspect--needs to be dragged from the shadows and into public discourse, Defending Our Lives isn't the vehicle for initiating that discussion. Not recommended. (Available from: Cambridge Documentary Films, P.O. Box 385, Cambridge, MA 02139; (617) 354-3677.)