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The Metaphor For 'Rape In Maleficent'

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The Metaphor For 'Rape In Maleficent'
Houma Police Department states “Somewhere in America, a woman is raped every 2 minutes” (“Assault Statistics”). Rape is a crime that takes away, a piece of the victim and empowers the predator. A rape victim never really recovers from an attack. Rape is not just about women because men can also be raped. Rape is about power and how that shift of power can change one’s life forever. In Maleficent the topic of rape is presented in one scene during the movie. The metaphor for rape in Maleficent is powerful, shocking, and eye opening. Rape in films is an important way to deliver the message to a broad audience because the movie shows how power is exchanged back and fourth between victim and assailant, changes in characters due to the attack, and …show more content…
The film shows that victims do not have to be victims. Maleficent displays to the audience that even though she was assaulted, she was able to harness that anger and become more powerful. The film teaches assault victims not to fear their attacker. Throughout the film, after Stefan assaults Maleficent, Stefan is the one who trembles in fear. A big lesson taught in the film is that no matter who a person is or what their status is in society, they can still be a victim of rape. In the movie Aurora is born after the assault on Maleficent. Even though Aurora is not Maleficent’s daughter, one could make the case that Aurora is a rape baby. This would explain the hate Maleficent had for the baby by first cursing Aurora and then allowing Aurora to suffer for so long before stepping in to help Aurora survive as a baby. Maleficent eventually started to love Aurora as her own and wanted no harm to come to her. According to the Inquisitr “despite the anguish of rape and overwhelming obstacles, there are women whom are thankful that something precious and beautiful was able to come out of their pain. The “rape baby” is a baby, nonetheless, and like any baby, can bring incredible joy to those around them” (Lapoint). Aurora was able to bring the light out of Maleficent. Aurora made Maleficent want to be good, and gave Maleficent something to live and fight
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