Movie Review The Accused

by Shelli Wheaton

A lot of things could be said about this particular movie, and indeed all would be positive. The acting in particular is superb with Jodie Foster being nothing short of amazing. I would not hesitate to recommend the parting of six dollars to take in this show.

But the issue at stake in The Accused is not how good the act- ing is, how good the makeup is, or how good the directing is. For one thing, the word “good” is so ridiculously ambiguous that it should be evicted from ev- ery edition of Webster’s Finest. Far more important in The Ac- cused is its role in increasing the awareness of rape as a vio- lent and vicious act committed against women. And no matter how much we like to think that we

women as objects is still a highly prevalent attitude, and is a far cry from being abolished even to- day.

Foster convincingly portrays the victim of a barroom gang rape. As if the physical and emotional scars of the traumatic event weren’t enough, the battle she undertakes in attempting to persecute her attackers becomes almost as vicious as the rape it- self. The whole issue becomes un- believably trivialized between the attorneys handling the case, as they make deals with each other to suit themselves. The movie ef- fectively portrays lawyers of our so-called “justice” system as lit- tle children arguing over candy. The victim is meanwhile tossed helplessly aside.

The Accused deals with a

are living in the civilized 1980’s, prominent issue of our time and

eee eC OOOO

Betty C. Brown led Clio and the other members of the UPEI History Society up the eastern coast of England. ‘The distin- guished members toured Colch- ester, Ipswich, Norwich, and Pe- terborough. The next day they toured Leicester and travelled through Nottinghamshire. This country’s Sherwood Forest was home to the legendary Robin Hood. In 1642 Nottingham —the county town of Nottinghamshire — was the site of the start of the English Civil War. As Betty Brown recited this county’s his- tory, Clio imagined himself as one of Robin Hood’s Merry Men of so long ago.

The next day the History So- ciety member reached Lincoln. Here Clio became very excited as he browsed through ancient (and modern) city records. He discov- ered the file of Apollo Pantheonal _ the ascendant of Clio’s who had emigrated to Prince Edward Is- land! Clio was estatic to so unex- pectedly discover information on such a legendary family figure.

‘Clio read on and made an even greater discovery: there were still Pantheonal families in

Jodie Foster and Kelly McGillis in The Accused.

we should all be educated with re- gard to this. Rape is hardly an insignificant or ambiguous issue,

and as it is bluntly dealt with in The Accused, the movie cannot simply be ambiguously labelled

Clio’s Adventure in England Part Il

England! In fact, one such fam- ily — headed by Jupiter Pan- theonal — lived in Lincoln. Clio showed Betty Brown the address, and she said, ‘Oh, we’re going right by there! They’re only two blocks away from Lincoln Castle.’ Therefore, after the History So- ciety member had toured Lincoln Cathedral — built in 1075 — and the Lincoln Castle — built in 1068 by William the Conquer — Clio stepped off the double-decker tour bus, walked up to Paul Pan- theonal’s house, and knocked.

A burly man in his forties opened the door and said, ‘Yes?’

Clio stuttered out that who he was and why he was there. When he finished, the man grabbed Clio’s hand and boomed, ‘Well, how =bout that! Two days be- fore my son Melpomone is to get married, along comes Clio Pantheonal from the New World! Well, well, well!’

At this juncture, the enthusi- astic man introduced as Jupiter. He invited all the History So- ciety members into his’ house. Jupiter introduced Clio to his son Melpomone and his daughter Er-

ato. Evervane had a ereat laugh

when Jupiter boomed: ‘Well, well! Here I am, named for my quick temper after the god of thunder. I have a son named af- ter the ancient muse of tragedy, and a daughter named after the muse of love poetry — due to their respective interests and talents. And here comes along a represen- tative of our family in the New World - Clio, named after the an- cient muse of history! Ya, ho, hol?

The History Society members stayed the night at Jupiter Pan- theonal’s home. Everyone had a grand time. Clio and the Old World Pantheonal’s exchanged

_ family names, addresses, and se-

crets. Melpomone left early in the morning. He wanted to fly to Newcastle upon Tyne that day as to make last-minute preparations for his wedding. Before leaving, Melpomone asked the History So-

ciety members to attend his wed-

ding. The members promised that they would try to make it. At 8:00 am the next morning, the History Society left Lincoln. Clio was sad to leave his new- found family, but contented him- self with the fact that Jupiter and

Erato would be flying to Newcas- tle upon Tyne that night for the wedding. There Clio would meet Melpomone’s bride and Jupiter’s

as “good”. Good does not justify anything, much less the brilliance

of The Accused.

nent:

wife, Helen, who was also in that town so as to help prepare the ceremony. Meanwhile, much of England had yet to be toured.

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