Copyright 1995 ABC-CLIO. This review was taken from the ABC-CLIO Video Rating Guide for Libraries on CD-ROM, a 5-year compilation of over 8900 video titles and reviews, 1990-1994. For information regarding order VRGL CD-ROM, contact: ABC-CLIO, P.O. Box 1911, Santa Barbara, CA 93116-1911; 805-968-1911

This following text has been included in the UCB Media Resources Center Web site with the kind permission of the publishers.

Rape by Any Name

Rating: ****

Audience: High School to Adult

Price: Public performance: $295.00

Date: Copyright 1990. Released 1991.

Descriptors: Acquaintance rape. Rape. Sex crimes.

Production Information: Live action. Produced by Angelique le Couer , Wade Hanks. Color. 60 min.

Available from: Women Make Movies 462 Broadway, 5th Floor New York, NY 10013 (212)925-0606

Cataloging: 364.153'2 Rape - United States||Women - Crimes against||Acquaintance rape

Print Entry #: 3:1363

Reviewer: Christy Zlatos

In the United States, a woman is raped every six minutes. Yet, few of these attacks constitute the knife-at-the-throat clarity needed for a forcible rape conviction. Most fall within fuzzy boundaries somewhere between consensual and coercive sex. In recent years, these have come to be called acquaintance rapes. Sponsored by Louisiana Public Television, Rape by Any Name explores the issues surrounding acquaintance rape including male and female socialization, dating etiquette, and victim rights. This hour-long production is appropriate for any high school or college classroom or women's interest group.

While the many participants interviewed offer divergent opinions that flesh out the controversy, the video's producers make few conclusions, forcing viewers to consider their own attitudes toward the situation. A mock forcible rape trial provides a returning focal point and a structure for the production. Among the participants interviewed are students, survivors, and a good number of experts (sociologists, social historians, cultural anthropologists, and so forth). The comments from students and the testimonies of survivors lend freshness and poignancy to the video. The input from the many experts reflects the academic journal literature.

Both audio and video tracks, if a little boring, are crisp and clear. There is a keyboard soundtrack that plays at the very beginning, although during most of the video the comments of the participants take center stage without accompaniment. This video is highly recommended for any group grappling with the issue of acquaintance rape.

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