Keira Knightley's Anti-Domestic Violence Advertisement is Too Violent for TV

British broadcasters and domestic violence activists are squaring off over a shocking public service advertisement featuring actress Keira Knightley (more) of Bend It Like Beckham and the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. "CUT - the movie," directed by Joe Wright (more - he and Knightley worked together on such films as Atonement), show Keira Knightley as she is brutally assaulted by a man who appears to be her boyfriend or husband, after she returns home from a day at work on a movie set.

Keira Knightley's two minute advertisement has been shown in movie theaters on behalf of Women's Aid, a charitable organization offering a great deal of information on the topic of domestic violence at their website (here).

Clearcast, which, according to its website, is "responsible for the pre-transmission examination and clearance of television advertisements" (more), said that Keira Knightley's film about domestic violence is too violent to be shown on television and has proposed a number of cuts in "CUT."

You can decide for yourself by watching the advertisement on YouTube (here).

Sandra Horely, who is the chief executive of Refuge, an organization that accommodates women and children trying to get away from domestic violence, called the decision by Clearcast "pathetic." (Source.)

Keira Knightley said she took part in the advertisement to call attention to the two women killed every week (assumedly in Great Britain) by domestic violence. (Source.)

"CUT" begins with Keira Knightley's character returning home from her workplace, a film shoot. A man (boyfriend, roommate, lover, husband - the distinction is not made) begins to abuse her verbally and physically. She cries out that she did not agree to this. The camera pulls back, and we see that the really hideous domestic violence is in fact taking place on a film set.

As I "read" this disturbing video, people do not agree to domestic violence, when they accept the script of a happy marriage (or other relationship). But, just as Keira Knightley's character cannot escape the domestic violence that suddenly does not follow the script, so are many real people trapped in domestic violence that they never agreed to, as they dreamed a script of living "happily ever after."

Is "CUT" violent? Well, is domestic violence violent? Then, can a film about domestic violence be shown on television? In Clearcast's own rules (here), we find "Violence, cruelty and injury are themes which must be handled with great care and only in cases where they can be justified are they likely to be acceptable. These cases are likely to arise in public service messages, newsreel footage, film trailers and some charity advertising." (Emphasis added.)

The message of Keira Knightley's film about domestic violence is that, yes, domestic violence is violent. The increasing violence toward the end of the film (where Clearcast is calling for cuts) is not like the artsy, choreographed violence of martial arts films. A woman is getting hurt, badly. A man's home may be his castle, but a woman's home is the place where. statistically, she is most likely to be hurt.

There is a distinct difference in perspective on domestic violence between British and American websites and news reporting. Consider these statistics from the American Bar Association's Commission on Domestic Violence (here): "Approximately 1.3 million women and 835,000 men are physically assaulted by an intimate partner annually in the United States."And, "In 2000, 1,247 women and 440 men were killed by an intimate partner. In recent years, an intimate partner killed approximately 33% of female murder victims and 4% of male murder victims." (Emphasis added.)

In the United States, we are open to the fact that men are not just perpetrators but also victims of domestic violence. Domestic violence is not limited just to heterosexual relationships either. Again, according to the ABA's Commission on Domestic Violence, "11% of lesbians reported violence by their female partner and 15% of gay men who had lived with a male partner reported being victimized by a male partner." (Source.) "Fistful of Love" (YouTube video with lyrics, here) by the sexually ambiguous Antony Hegarty might capture the thoughts, fears, and confusion of many victims of domestic violence, of whatever sex, gender, or orientation.

The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence has a great page of resources (here), including state-specific fact sheets. Those resources and Keira Knightley's haunting video (yes, this article is about Keira Knightley's video about domestic violence) reminds us that no household, no person living in any relationship, at any socio-economic level, is immune from domestic violence.

We are not that far removed from the Rihanna / Chris Brown news. Raquel Cepeda concluded her Village Voice article, "Another Love TKO: Teens Grapple with Rihanna vs. Chris Brown" (here) with words that I would like to use to close this article:

"I disagree with the fact that she provoked him, because when you say 'provoke,' to me, that means he had a reason to hit her," says an eighth-grade Latina. "I don't think that's fair." That this opinion puts her in the minority is a major crisis. For everybody.

You might be interested in my article, "Can Men Be Sexually Harassed by Women?" (here)

Christopher, another AC source (source page here) brings his insights to this ad in his article "Kiera Knightly's Anti-domestic Violence Ad Revisited" (here).