Post-Parkland, it may be time to revisit Evan Rachel Wood's terrific performance in "Life Beyond Her Eyes," playing the same character as Uma Thurman. Two great performances and a script that was timely after Columbine and is now timely again.
Can anyone please explain the continual usage of the term, "rape survivor" in nearly every article about rape...especially concerning non-male victims? What is the ratio of rape deaths to rape survivors? Is it comparable to those who die from cancer versus those who survive cancer?
Any help solving this conundrum would be appreciated.
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You might be better served by trying to solve the conundrum of why, after reading a powerful article about a brave woman, your takeaway is a sort of passively/snidely expressed annoyance at a term commonly used for someone who has overcome a trauma. The world might be a better place if you find an answer.
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Thanks luv, merci, gracias, grazie. Your insight is noted and appreciated. On the international scene, many hope the people of Syria are able to survive their non-sexual traumas. Me, too.
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I guess if it's important to you to refer to everyone who has had cancer as a "cancer victim," you . . . can? Under the apparent theory that if a terrible thing happens and one survives it, one should still be forever classified as a victim (which seems pretty clearly where you're going with this . . . that the term "rape victim" was good enough for our grandaddies, why must we stop using it?).
Next up, snippy comments regarding such commonly found locutions as:
"He survived a childhood of abject poverty and eventually became a great success." (Let's go with, "A victim of abject poverty, he . . ."
And of course, Gloria Gaynor's anthem needs to be recast. After all, how many women actually perish as the result of a breakup? Perhaps, "I Will Be a Victim"? ("As long as I know know how to love, I know I'll be a victim . . .")
There, fixed it.
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"Everything you want is on the other side of fear." One of the most inspirational quotes I've ever heard or read. It's going on my wall! Thank you, Evan Rachel Wood, Melena Ryzik, and New York Times!
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Evan Rachel Wood's grandmother Pat Moore was my neighbor and dear friend in Cameron Park in Raleigh NC 40 years ago. A devoted mother to her brood and, I'm certain, a wonderful grandmother to ERW.
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Westworld feels like a "great novel" on the screen. The concept and the cast are dynamic in offering some of the best "sci-fi" I have seen in decades. ERW is captivating in the role. Not because she is beautiful, but because she shares with us her dilemmas so convincingly. And isn't that the measure of an actor?
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After reading the article I played back my DVD of the pilot episode. In her first appearance, Wood's character is naked and being examined by a man ( since the camera jerks around, it's possible they were using a body double and showing her face in closeups). About ten minutes a bully drags her into her family's barn and it is implied that he rapes her.
I'd think acting through this sequence would be agonizing for an actress who had been raped in real life. It's odd that she would treat it as a form of therapy.
Or is all of this psychobabble to promote the show?
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Call me cynical but I’m going with the psychobabble-to-promote explanation. The me-too movement is a convenient news hook to hang this on. I stopped watching “Westworld” because I thought it was so offensively OTT exploitive — of women’s bodies (the whole naked-robot-chick-on-a-stool thing got old quickly), of sexualized violence (disgusting as it is, that stuff is intended to titillate), and of explicit an gory violence in general.
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Maybe promotion is the motivation of the article, but I would hesitate to judge Ms. Wood for how she deals or dealt with her trauma. It seems she had suppressed her personal experience before (as a means to cope with it) and being in the series forced her to face it and that ended up being a good thing for her personally. I, however, like "Passion for Peaches" below, did not watch the series because of the rape scene and general objectification of women it seemed so totally focused on. I do get tired of watching women get victimized on tv...I'm glad Ms. Wood was empowered by her portrayal, though, and I applaud her willingness to share her experiences with Congress and the world. I think that is very brave.
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Ms. Wood, “Everything you want is on the other side of fear” is a beautifully succinct and profound observation, for anyone. I've brought it into my heart; thank you. (Also, your observation would make a fine book title...)
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One ERW's most amazing performances is as 'Tobe in " Down in the Valley " It's a fabulously low key , nuanced performance shared with Ed Norton and David Morse that clearly demonstrates the deep emotional well that is Ms Wood. I wish her love in her continuing recovery and look forward to seeing her latest work in Westworld.
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When women stop posing nude in photos and movies, then I am sure that men will stop objectifying them.
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Yes! Nevernudes for gender equality! If we are never naked, no one will ever rape us! Such a nice simple solution.
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The mysteries of Eros are many and complex, and not wholly susceptible to social engineering or legislating.
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How about more nude men in movies? To - you know - equalize the objectification? Gay men aren't the only ones who'd enjoy that.
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Rock and roll suicide was always one of my favorite Bowie sings, too.
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“Acting is being.”
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Funny how we all process words differently. I thought that was achingly trite.
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Great article...but no mention of her Stellar performance in Mildred Pearce?? Why not?
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And White Oleander
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Yes, what happened to Mildred Pierce? Mildred's selfish daughter is an incredibly difficult role and ERW was spectacular in it.
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I don't think she was in White Oleander
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I first saw Evan Rachel Wood in Once and Again. Her strong, pure spirit inhabited that character and made a great role magnificent. I feel confident that her strength and truth will throw off the trauma and her spirit will regain its wholeness. Her courage and the purity of her spirit are awesome.
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@TechMaven: I was going to post the same thing. Watching ERW was like watching Claire Danes in “My So-Called Life”.
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It's really too bad Once and Again is not available to stream. So many younger fans of ERW could benefit from watching her performance on that show!
Didn't know her backstory but now I understand why she was so fantastic in Westworld. She brought a lot of pain but strength into that character. Courageous woman!
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Excellent actress, impressive woman, great show. As a side note, I’m desperately hoping that Wood and Marsden doing the line read ala “Anchorman” characters is filmed and somehow distributed to the world. Sounds absolutely wonderful.
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What a voice! I had no idea she could sing like that!
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Watch the entertaining 2007 movie "Across the Universe" directed by Julie Taymor. ERW plays Lucy and sings beautifully.
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On the front page of the digital edition, there is a typo: the caption has "Westwood," not "Westworld." I guess Ms. Wood is so good, that her last name has replaced "world". It's now Wood's "world"?
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Yes she is that good so SHUT UP!!! ;-)
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Even copy editors make mistakes. But it's particularly hard when it's in a headline.
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Thank you, Evan.
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Evan Rachel Wood is the emotional heart of Westworld, which is the greatest series on a philosophical, artistic and technical level that I have ever seen. Whoever did the casting for this series must be a genius. Ms. Wood, Jeffrey Wright, and all of the other "hosts" are utterly believable yet emotionally irresistible. This series is incredibly timely. We are living in an era of human brutality and mass stupidity as our super-intelligent technology is carrying us to a future we will not control.
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Human history has always been full of brutality and stupidity but you're right, technology makes this combination very very scary.
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#MeToo is a movement that will, and needs to, change the world.
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Like all of the Twitter/Fcebook slactivism that preceded it.
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Indeed. It's good when victims/survivors speak up. They help others feel less alone.
I was molested for years by my aunt when I was little boy. My mother, I am sure, knew but did nothing. Both mom and aunt had been abused by their mother, I learned years later.
These folks make us all feel less isolated. That's a very good thing.
I hope in particular that boys/men speak up. Over 1/3 of child sex abuse victims are boys; these victims should not be ignored, even though our culture wants to look away.
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There is nothing better than the mutual respect and attraction and desire between two people...the creeps and ingrates who would hurt someone for a lifetime just for a few moments pleasure are a disgrace to society and should be
permanently incarcerated and/or made to offer public service for many thousands of hours educating people on how NOT to behave..It is saddening that the President has offered a green light to these creeps through his own stupid, reckless and classless behavior..
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A very heartfelt and moving article, but there is no mention of Ms. Wood's coming of age performance in Julie Taymor's film, "Across The Universe". It's one of the most creative movies ever made. Ms. Wood has a great singing voice.
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I really enjoyed her character in "King of California". That's a movie I need to watch again soon.
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Agreed. I actually first encountered her as an actress on ABC's critically-acclaimed but short-lived"Once and Again" from 1999-2002. She was a standout even as a young teen.
http://www.afterellen.com/tv/5579-once-and-again-the-best-show-you-never...
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Though incidental given what's she's done in her career and gone through in her personal life, nonetheless, she is probably the most stunning looking women working in Hollywood right now. Good Lord, what a beauty!
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Yeah... that is incidental to the discussion.
Men: Sometimes being called “pretty” is not a compliment. It makes you feel like, “wow, is that all they took from this?”
Imagine publicly revealing the story of one’s own sexual assault (as a man), and afterward having your listener say, “My goodness he just has such a strong jawline.”
“Pretty” has felt insulting at times in my life, and I recognize the same thing here. It’s inadvertent, I know. Men think it’s always a compliment. But think of how that reaction is a mismatch with the speaker’s message in this context, and you’ll understand why the comment is unkind.
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So tone deaf. You know being called a beauty is not often a compliment.
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"So tone deaf. You know being called a beauty is not often a compliment."
Maybe not in your liberal cocoon, In most of the world, is it a compliment.
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It's good when victims/survivors speak up. They help others feel less alone.
I was molested for years by my aunt when I was little boy. My mother, I am sure, knew but did nothing. Both mom and aunt had been abused by their mother, I learned years later.
I hope in particular that boys/men speak up. Over 1/3 of child sex abuse victims are boys, many abused by females, who make up 20-25% of child abusers. Neither these victims nor these abusers should be ignored, even though our culture wants to look away from both.
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That is terrible. I'm sorry for the pain that you experienced and hope that time and therapy might assist your recovery from such traumatic events
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