Media Effect Theories & The Accused

Title of movie analyzed


The Accused
1. Brief synopsis of the person, event, conflict on which the film is based.
A.The movie was based on the gang rape of Cheryl Araujo that happened in a local bar. Several men raped her while others watch and cheered the whole thing on. The rapists were then let off on a light sentence because of Cheryl's questionable character. 


2. Major themes/frames of the film.
A.The film portrayed that she was dressed provocatively  and that she liked to have fun which then made the implication that she was looking for it, which is exactly what the opposing attorney argued. The indirect affect of the media portraying women looking similar to prostitutes is that we justify that they deserve it and wanted that treatment. 


3. Major differences between historical record, coverage inThe New York Times (or other newspapers) & film translation.
In the film Cheryl Araujo is portrayed as Sarah Tobias. She is a white, young woman. She is single and goes to the bar after her and her boyfriend had gotten into a fight. She was dressed proactively and was "looking for a good time." Her character was questioned because she had a previous record and was dismissed as someone who wanted it. She was also portrayed as a drug user and someone who drank alcohol a lot. In the movie they show that on the news it was covered by the media. 


In real life Cheryl Araujo was a mother of two who  lived with them and their father who was her high school boyfriend.She as well as her attackers were of Portuguese decent.  It was her daughter's birthday and after the party with the girls in bed she decided to go to the local bar to relax and have a drink and purchase cigarettes. She was approached by two men who wanted her to leave with them and she declined. She was then attacked by men from behind who dragged her to the floor where she was raped twice, and was then taken to the pin ball machine and was raped by 4 men. Four of the men were convicted of rape and the other two were let of for reasonable doubt. They also do not show that the Portuguese community was enraged and blamed Cheryl for being at the bar alone. The media actually filmed the entire trial and her name was given out to the public. After the case Cheryl and her boyfriend and their children moved to Florida to try to start a better life. Cheryl died in a car accident at the age of 25. 


4. Major similarities between historical record, coverage inThe New York Times (or other newspapers) & film translation.


A.It was true that Cheryl was a young woman who entered a bar alone at night and had a few drinks. 
B.It is also true that Cheryl was attacked and gang raped repeatedly by several men. 
C.It was also true that Cheryl was blamed for the event and her character and past history was brought in front of the whole community during the trial. 
5. What ideological perspectives are reinforced or challenged? 
A.In the movie it shows how Cheryl was framed to be a woman of questionable character. It shows in the movie that she went out "looking for it." I think that is was framed that way to make her seem not as respectable and then made the lawyer seem heroic for helping her win justice. 
B.Knowing that Cheryl was of Portuguese decent as well as her attackers, I feel that when making the movie they made a conscious decision to leave out that fact. I think this is unfair because it reinforces racial discrimination as well as sexism. 

6. What is privileged—Truth or Truthiness? Relate to media effects theories and media literacy concepts. How does the film construct a specific version of reality and what is the significance of the Hollywood version? In other words, whose stories are told? Whose stories are omitted? What is the significance of how the story is framed?


A. Cheryl's story was told in the movie the accused. It is true however that the story was not told to the fullest extent. Cheryl and her attackers were all of the Portuguese ethnicity and the Portuguese community were outraged by the trial because they argued that had the men not been Portuguese they would not have been tried at all. It is important that they did not show the whole story because it frames the story completely differently. We see a white woman getting raped multiple times, by white men, and we are outraged. If the story would have been shown truthfully and that all of the parties involved were immigrants I think that people's perspective would have been one that said it was a cultural problem that needed to be "taken care of" through that community.