Search - Awful Normal on DVD

A stunning film...'results' are not always as perceived...

Larry L. Looney | Austin, Texas USA | 12/06/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I normally don't address opinions put forth by other reviewers -- and when I do, I try to do so with respect and tolerance, which is the spirit in which I'm writing this.

The review below labels this with a 'yawn', and found it boring and pointless...? Anyone whose life has even been touched by sexual abuse -- either personally, or through a loved one being victimized -- will understand the amount of courage it took for Celesta Davis and her family to go through with contacting and confronting the man who abused her when she was a child. My best friend is a survivor of childhood sexual abuse -- I've seen courage in her over the past 9 years that has amazed me. I'm proud to call her my hero.

Rather than being a fictionalized and sensationalized piece of 'Hollywood entertainment', AWFUL NORMAL is a well-made, deeply moving documentary that pulls no punches. Confronting one's abuser -- either immediately or after years of suffering the effects of the abuse -- is one of the most emotionally shattering, painful moves a survivor can make...and one of the most empowering and healing. It doesn't matter if the resulting confrontation isn't an ultra-dramatic scene involving the offender throwing himself on his knees in front of her and begging for forgiveness -- the sheer act of the survivor finding the strength and courage to open up and speak about the abuse publicly is a big step in closing old wounds.

The film shows the entire painful, painstaking process -- making the decision to find the abuser and make contact, wavering between courage and despair right up to the last moment, tearful, open-hearted discussions between Celesta, her mother and her sister. No punches are pulled, and no attempt seems to have been made to falsely portray courage or resolve that wasn't there 100% of the time.

This is a brutally honest, powerful and important film -- and as important as it was for Celesta to make the decision to confront her abuser, then to follow through on such a daunting task, it's just as important that this film be seen widely, so that more people can understand just how much damage can be done...and what courage it takes to heal. Maybe then we'd hear fewer people say callous things like 'Oh...she just needs to get over it.'

Please. This wasn't meant to be 'entertaining'."

Pretending an Unprotective Mother is Protective

Laura Killilea | 04/11/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I give this movie 5 stars because I admire the courage of Celesta in confronting the man who molested her. I think she did a service for all people who have been molested. She showed them (us) a way to get their power back.
Celesta's mother knew about the abuse of her daughters but continued to be friends with the molester and expose her daughters to him. Celesta calls this behavior 'protective' because it was the 1970's and that was what people did, just went on and pretended nothing happened. If that doesn't make sense to you that's because it doesn't make sense. Those are the words of a woman who cannot face that her mother did not protect her from a child abuser. At the end of Celesta's confrontation with the molester, her mother hugs him and says, "I love the good things about you." What a kick in the gut for her daughters. To me, this is the real story; a daughter's remarkable contortion of reality in order to avoid the pain of her mother's horrible betrayal."