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OTHER A & E STORIES - A tale of Argentinian war prisoners - Jackass kicks you in the balls and leaves you urting for more - Brian thinks you should... - A marriage of sounds gives Hot Hot Heat a truly original album - Pretentions (submissions from SCC students) Jennifer Lopez pushes the limit in Enough Mbedha Kiboigo Ebbtide Reporter October launches the annual recognition of domestic violence. This past week students had the opportunity to increase their awareness of domestic violence by visiting the Women's Center and wearing a purple ribbon to demonstrate their support, or by decorating a T-shirt for an interactive art display for victims and their families. Also, the Michael Apted film, "Enough," was released to video and DVD last Tuesday. This suspense/thriller attempts to illustrate the calamitous effects of a relationship marred by physical and verbal abuse, as it relates to the victim and all the lives impacted by this situation. Slim (Jennifer Lopez) is a waitress working at a small restaurant in California to support herself after dropping out of college. At this restaurant she meets Mitch (Billy Campbell), a charming, affluent contractor who appears to be perfect for her. Apted used a quick editing style that underdeveloped their relationship before marriage, which leads the audience to distrust the quality of the marriage from the beginning. Instead of using a montage to display the passage of time, Apted relies on straight cuts throughout the film for each transition. By providing straight cuts after the scene in which Mitch and Slim first meet into the next scene of their wedding day, the audience must assume that they develop a healthy relationship. Many years pass and Slim seems to have the ideal life: a perfect house, loving husband and a wonderful five-year-old daughter named Gracie (Tessa Allen). However, after Slim investigates the number in MitchÕs pager, she realizes that he has been having an affair. As she confronts him with this behavior, she encounters verbal and physical abuse for the first time. This is an amazing scene because the camera angle is taken from a low shot so it seems as though Mitch is towering over Slim. Also, during this scene Slim seems trapped for the first time, as she stands between the wall and kitchen counter, bruised and powerless. As the plot advances, it is evident that Apted uses this format consistently throughout the film. The next months are filled with desperation, pain and abuse as the infidelity continues and Mitch begins to strictly regulate her activities. As this pattern continues and Slim is reduced to feelings of inferiority and inadequacy, she decides to take her daughter and leave. Bewildered by the drastic changes in her life, Slim now realizes the vulnerability of the situation because there are few people she can rely on to escape this horror. Without any siblings to depend on, and the death of her mother experienced at a young age, she becomes self-reliant. In addition, Slim has a poor relationship with her father, a narcissistic business entrepreneur, because he left her mother when she was still very young. However, Phil (Christopher Maher), a friend of the family, claims the position of a paternal figure due to the absence of her parents, and becomes an influential person in her life. It is with his cooperative assistance with her best friend, Ginny (Juliette Lewis), and her ex- boyfriend Joe (Dan Futterman) that Slim begins the desperate struggle for freedom. According to Kirk Honeycutt of the "Hollywood Reporter," Lopez trained for three months with Wade Allen, a martial arts expert, and Simon Crane, a stunt coordinator, in order to illustrate the vitality of the character. Possibly the best aspect of this film is the empowering perspective that is shown of the positive effects that self-defense classes can have on a person, allowing him or her to become the defender as opposed to the defeated. Not since her acting in "Out of Sight" have I seen Lopez display her acting abilities to such incredible acclaim. Furthermore, the collective performances by the actors strive to elevate the morality of the film, which suggests that victims should murder their attackers as a means of pursuing justice. However, the film demonstrates many realities of domestic violence for the victims who are able to escape, such as the lack of control of the future. Throughout the film Slim is living in a state of constant fear and foreboding. She has no sense of security because Mitch may locate them and the abuse will continue. Mitch is able to locate them frequently throughout the film, and as he freezes her bank accounts and threatens her friends, she realizes that staying at a shelter for battered women would one of the few places she could protect Gracie as well as herself. Although five-year-old Gracie is still too young to understand the circumstances around her, Slim has the additional responsibility of trying to protect her from this reality. Despite her destitute performances in many of her past films, such as "The Cell", "Angel Eyes", and "The Wedding Planner" she seems to have found a role that illuminates the film. Her abilities as an actress are prominently revealed. In the past, she has portrayed characters that were always in control of the situation around them and fairly independent. Such examples are the police officer in "Angel Eyes" the psychotherapist in "The Cell" and the detective in "Out of Sight." In contrast, this character is more passive as she lets others control her future. In addition, she was also able to strengthen her physical dexterity, which is a difficult task in itself. However, the release of "Enough" to video presents the opportunity to discuss this worldwide problem, as we reexamine the social dysfunction of domestic violence. © 2002 Shoreline Community College™