There are many films that deal with the issue of abuse and stalking, but few capture the intense mental state of the stalker more than the 1993 film, “Falling Down” starring Michael Douglas.
The film stars Michael Douglas as William Foster, a divorced and unemployed former defense engineer. It centers on Foster’s trek across the city of Los Angeles as he attempts to reach the house of his estranged ex-wife in time for his daughter’s birthday. Along the way, a series of encounters, both trivial and provocative, cause him to react with increasing violence and to make sardonic observations on life, poverty, the economy and commercialism.
While this film deals with many different aspects of abuse (which we will continue to discuss throughout the FALLING DOWN Series), we want to focus on the last scene in the movie and discuss the matter of safety for victims while on the run from stalkers.
In the final scene of the film, Michael Douglas’ character finally manages to arrive at his ex-wife’s home. Fearing for their safety, she grabs their young daughter, quickly leaves the house and makes a run for it.
For example, when Beth Trevino (Michael Douglas’ ex-wife played by Barbara Hershey) is running away with their daughter, one mistake her character made was going to the pier, which provided little to no protection for them.
Several of our team members with No Longer A Victim have been in the position of literally having to physically run away from an abuser, whether inside of a building or out in public. When watching films like FALLING DOWN, we tend to notice crucial mistakes chosen by the production team that could lead to dire consequences in real life.
As we can see from this aerial shot of this particular pier in the film, there is ONLY ONE WAY IN and ONE WAY OUT.
If you are being stalked by someone, look for ways to make following you difficult. The main rule you need to keep at the forefront of you mind is to make sure the location or room you hide in HAS MORE THAN ONE EXIT/ENTRANCE. The reason for this is because if the pursuer catches up with you to a room that only has one exit/entrance, it will be VERY difficult (at best) for the victim to both hide in that room and get out through the same way the pursuer came in.
We know how difficult it can be to keep your emotions in check while you are being chased by someone who is violent, but you always need to be aware of your surroundings and always be thinking several steps ahead of them.
While this skill may seem daunting to learn, one way to strengthen this ability is to have someone teach you how to play chess. With chess, you have to force yourself to not only look & strategize for several moves ahead, but also to anticipate what the other person will do. Once your brain gets used to thinking this way, we can guarantee you will feel more confident about staying safer.
In addition to playing games of strategy, nothing takes the place of talking to someone who has been through it.
If you or someone you know is looking for advice about their abusive relationship (or trying to escape it), email us at Hello@NoLongerAVictim.Today or call the Domestic Violence Hotline: 1.800.799.SAFE (7233)
This article was written by various team members of the No Longer A Victim staff. This may or may not include former victims who choose to remain anonymous, but still wish to share their story so that others can learn from their experiences.
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