Four Corners this week (1 Viewer)

[braindrainedAsh]

Did anyone watch Four Corners this week on Monday or the repeat tonight (Weds)? It was the story of Robert with the Misissippi accent...

This story made me sick to the very pit of my stomach. The psychological abuse of that child made me feel ill. I wanted to hit his grandmother. I felt for his mother in one way because she was a product of the same psychological abuse.

The contrast between school Robert and home Robert was a testament to the influence adult role models have on children's behavior and development. The sheer frustration of those trying to deal with the situation was shown by the school principal crying over this poor child's lost potential due to his family life.

I think this was an excellent documentary which showed the emotional abuse of children... but it made me feel sick and angry, so I guess that made it a "good" documentary.

Just wondering if anyone watched it. Do you think DOCS should be able to take children away if they are being emotionally abused, because it is a type of abuse often neglected.

 

[loquasagacious]

Could you fill me in on the doco, seeing as I missed both screenings....

 

[Italian Hotshot]

Yeah, I saw it on Monday night and caught bits of it last night. It really was a heartbreaking story.

It is no wonder that Robert lashed out and 'beat up' his grandmother (severly brusing her legs) but in that situation he struggled to survive at home. His mother by the looks of things has a pretty low mental age - she was about to jump out of a moving car! How his gran could possibly abuse him that much is beyond me. The scene where the psychologist talks to him and he tells her she always calls him 'mental' was hard to watch.

By the same token it was inspirational that despite all going on in his life he was a model student at schoo, and fairly funny tool.

braindrainedAsh has great taste in television shows.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Glad someone else saw it. Yeah that scene where he was saying she tells him he is mental was terrible. I also thought it was disgusting when the school principal came to tell her how well Robert does at school and she just kept denying it and saying how horrible he is... she couldn't even recognize any good in him at all.

This was a great doco, it really gave me a rare insight into something I had never really seen before indepth. I mean, you see the "trailor trash" on Jerry Springer and the like, but this really showed the way cycles of abuse can make people turn out as bad mothers, underachievers etc.

There is a synopsis of the doco here if anyone is interested;
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2005/s1431250.htm

 

[leetom]

I saw it. It shocked me to see Westerners living in such a state. I thought wallowing in abodes full of filth was something of the third world. I think Robert's household was an apt example of the sort of squalor that eventuates in the lower classes in a country driven by hard capitalism.

Also, although there was no mention of it, the program highlighted the massive obesity problem America has. What a monstrosity that mother was. And you can tell Roberty is going to become a fat kid as well, instead of handing him a standard drink like water the mother gave him coke instead. They just have no perception of health! Robert's "Do we have any fat? I'd like some fat" is a timeless example of fat America.

On another note, Robert was extremely funny, leaping around that loungeroom like Gollum, and, when asked what he planned to do with the knife he was threatening his little brother with "I'm gonna stab it into his heart". Classic.

And for some reason that shirt he was wearing at school, with the words "can we play" floored me.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

The mothers weight probably also had a lot to do with lack of self esteem as well as ignorance... she was quite slim when she was younger.

Anyway, I just remembered another part that freaked me out. Remember when Robert was brandishing the handgun? How sickening/scary was that. Showed the crazy attitude towards guns they have in the USA.... who lets their child play with a gun and encourages them to try and shoot it?

 

[Iron]

I saw it. It shocked me to see Westerners living in such a state. I thought wallowing in abodes full of filth was something of the third world. I think Robert's household was an apt example of the sort of squalor that eventuates in the lower classes in a country driven by hard capitalism.

Also, although there was no mention of it, the program highlighted the massive obesity problem America has. What a monstrosity that mother was. And you can tell Roberty is going to become a fat kid as well, instead of handing him a standard drink like water the mother gave him coke instead. They just have no perception of health! Robert's "Do we have any fat? I'd like some fat" is a timeless example of fat America.

And for some reason that shirt he was wearing at school, with the words "can we play" floored me.

Hahaha - my thoughts exactly. Not to mention the whole teeth issue.

I dont believe he did the bruising. You could tell that a lot of the harm was in the inner thigh though; I wouldnt put sexual abuse out of the question. That Mamar was one nasty peiceof work - humiliating him infront of teachers, dragging him away from Power rangers to piss him off. You could see the number she played on her daughter too. At every point possible she made him feel worthless.
She gives herself away at the end "There's alot of things i can do...I got alot of clout".
But you couldn't help laugh at the old coot - under-nourished, mal-educated, slow talkin, lazy-eyed, white/trailor trash at its finest. Take that colonists.
I was a little confused at the ending though - he appeared happy, but I couldnt work out whether he was with his formerly insane mother or another relative - If it was his mother, she packed on weight, changed hair colour, broke her wrist and lost her front teeth.
I liked how it showed that children with potential are at the mercy of those who bring them up.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

I think he ended up with the mother... it said the grandmother stopped going for custody. And remember the social worker mentioned how the mother being given the responsibility of her children had really changed the mother's attitude etc.

But yeah, I don't think the kid made the bruises either. She could have fallen or something and then blamed the kid.

What was that when she was just holding him basically just to shit him.... she was basically just tormenting him.... he hadn't really done anything wrong....

Shocking stuff. Makes you realize how good you had it while growing up.... how very very good you had it.

 

[Iron]

Some of the stuff you just had to laugh at:

Grandmother "Ok boys, first one to get past that rope wins"
*race* - Robert easily beats younger brother
Grandmother "...You didnt really win Robert. You have longer legs... You dont even know How to run"

Southern parady humour doesnt come close to that

 

[braindrainedAsh]

I didn't really find that bit funny.... I saw it as a reinforcement of the continuing degradation of Robert by his grandmother. She refused to acknowledge any achievement he made.

At the end, I think his new beginning was best symbolized by the ribbons hanging on the wall of the family home- finally his achievements were being recognized.

 

[Iron]

Yeah, but I think that he could pick up on how ludicrous she was, even though he didnt have a vocab to express it. They all knew what she was, I think.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Hmm yeah I think that he did know she was an idiot in some ways.... especially when he snobbed her at the birthday party.

 

[Iron]

His mother wasn't without problems also, but he obviously has a strong enough will to deal with it. The medicine may've been the major problem.
I also liked the sinister look at evangelism, which mamar represented

 

[leetom]

I didn't think a lumpenproletariat existed in the Western world, until now.

"Do you have any fat? I'd like some fat!" Can't get over it!

Carers never seem to realise just how vital catching the entire show is. You can't go back to powerangers after missing half of it, you miss out on the enitre premise.

As for that bruising on mamaw, that was some serious damage. There is no way Robert could have done it. When queried on it, poor Robert offered only "I don't know, she says I did it but I don't know".

 

[Comrade nathan]

I think his new beginning was best symbolized by the ribbons hanging on the wall of the family home- finally his achievements were being recognized.

Thats a rather HSC English context thing to say.

I actually mised it, though i seen this thread and opened it and didn't read it.

Does the Mother have any more children? Maybe she hates the kid because she was raped?

 

[Xayma]

Carers never seem to realise just how vital catching the entire show is. You can't go back to powerangers after missing half of it, you miss out on the enitre premise.

Actually in power rangers you can:

Some social problem affects one of the rangers
Rita sees this and sends down a monster
Power Rangers fight monster
Rita Enlarges Monster
Power Rangers jump in their machines
Power Rangers kill monster
Somewhere during the fighting the social problem is solved.

You can easily jump in 4 minutes to the end and get the whole gist.

 

[braindrainedAsh]

Yeah she did hate the kid because she was raped, that was part of the problem and why his grandmother was looking after him.

 

[azzie]

Yeah she did hate the kid because she was raped, that was part of the problem and why his grandmother was looking after him.

if she hated the kid she should have given it up for adoption in the first place.
stories like that make me feel sick, the child is paying for his parents stupidity. its not meant to be like that.

 

[Iron]

It must be fun to edit all the film to suit your interpretations, after biting your tongue throughout the interviewing.