Even though the movie Provoked was rather questionable from the point of treating the whole situation objectively, it could be safe to say that it majorly contributed to the understanding of the concept of battered woman syndrome (Walker, 2006). This was an essential topic included in the movie in order to point out the prevalence of silent treatment when it came to intrafamilial abuse (with men, obviously, being the abusers).
As one may also see in the Provoked, this behavior does not have anything to do with the socio-economic group or a woman’s race, as there are much deeper reasons forcing women to suffer in complete stillness. Therefore, the movie raises a crucial question that cannot be ignored because it relates to the idea of learned helplessness as well. The symptoms that are rather similar to PTSD simply cannot remain overlooked because many women become too passive when it comes to battling abuse, as they do not see any other viable alternatives available (Kiewitz et al., 2016). This is where this diminished perception actually starts working against them, and this is exactly what we can witness in Provoked.
As long as the victim does not change their view of the situation, they will not be able to find a different solution to their problem. The current movie is a perfect example of why one should never give up and always stand up to any kind of provocation in order to protect themselves from potential abuse and misunderstandings. The story that the director told the audience can be directly associated with the question of whether there was any reason for the main character’s husband to do what he did.
Therefore, it is crucial to gain more insight into why does the main character actually endure that while not leaving her abusive partner. Despite the fact that the movie does not answer that question explicitly, it is evident that the rationale behind the main character’s actions is founded on the “, but he loves me, and we can make it work” postulate. This might be the biggest lie of all time that transpires beyond the screen and happens all the time in real life as well, unfolding in the most unexpected ways ever.
The inability to expose the truth and ensure that the abuse is going to stop as soon as possible often results from the family advice, where the woman is recommended to let it go and not pay any attention, as anyone might have a bad day. The uncomfortable state of exposing the truth is what stops many women from reporting domestic abuse, and Provoked is a perfect example of what might happen in the family when the woman is not ready to overcome her fears and respond to the offender.
The main character was not too scared to exert an effort to change the situation, and it ultimately paid off, even if with drastic consequences for her and the husband. When learned helplessness kicks in, it may be hard for a woman to step over the “it is your fault” motto instilled by those same women who also treat domestic abuse as something usual (Peterson, 2010). There can be no realistic way one could support abuse and still preach about how love and interpersonal relationships are the most important things in the world.
Despite Provoked being a Bollywood movie, with its class-specific issues and weak domestic violence narratives that do not often come synonymous with the notion of abuse in Western countries, the film still does a great job portraying the frustration that a woman might feel when remaining helpless because of her own inability to respond to abuse in the family. Therefore, it cannot be that only lower-income households might be suffering from the issue of domestic abuse, as there are many factors contributing to the development of toxic relationships leading to unexpected consequences (De Becker, 1997). Even though the protagonist did not run away from the abuser, she still managed to escape the violent relationship and respond to the vocation from her true identity.
References
De Becker, G. (1997). The gift of fear. Little, Brown.
Kiewitz, C., Restubog, S. L. D., Shoss, M. K., Garcia, P. R. J. M., & Tang, R. L. (2016). Suffering in silence: Investigating the role of fear in the relationship between abusive supervision and defensive silence. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101(5), 731.
Peterson, C. (2010). Learned helplessness. The Corsini Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1-2.
Walker, L. E. (2006). Battered woman syndrome: Empirical findings. Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1087(1), 142-157.