BURBANK, Calif. -
Sept. 10, 2013 -
PRLog -- Screenwriter Deborah Allen wrote JANE based upon her own life. She was raped at the age of fifteen and has gone on to live with and heal from that experience not only by writing this script, but working with women and girls in both the United States, Europe, and Japan – using theatre tools to explore difficult emotions, traumatic events, and sexual mythologies. Creating JANE feels like the great turning of the wheel – a trauma now turned to larger meaning and usefulness. Deborah, who is 60-years-old, has taken the same journey as her character, and knows that the creative life is a significant force for a lifetime of learning and changing.
JANE Film Synopsis: Fiercely independent fifteen-year-
old JANE STEWART wants to be a poet. Living with her romance-novel writing Aunt CLAIRE, feels like living inside a Hallmark card. Then ALEX MARTIN comes into her life. Sexy, gorgeous, funny and famous, Martin seems to understand her need to create – until he creates chaos by raping her… Like a deer in headlights, Jane collapses into silence within a shell of pain and guilt. Claire, and Jane’s best friend SAM, take on the burning need to fight back. Together, the three create an unexpected alliance. They’re determined to bring him to justice, but as Alex’s wealthy lawyers prepare for battle and private detectives search her past for scandal, the legal system bends to the demands of privilege. The town becomes divided between those who believe her and those who don’t and Alex manages to play the wronged party perfectly. The script is realistic in its outcome (Alex wins the court battle) but heroic in the pay-off for Jane and Sam, in terms of character, courage, and a bold confrontation with Alex. Jane discovers that healing has everything to do with community and right action. In the end, it’s up to Jane and Sam to act outside the law in an effort to trap Alex and see that justice is served. While Jane loses in the courtroom, she is able to help the next girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and ultimately, it is Jane’s connection with her inner life and with the strength of her creative impulse to make meaning (by writing poetry), that brings her back to a possible future.
For high school students, and especially for girls, this topic remains surprisingly hidden and taboo. On one hand, teenage girls are trained by much of the media to think of their sexual allure as a potentially successful agent in their empowerment. At the same time, the conversation about sexual predators seems impersonal and far away. And yet (according to the U.S. Department of Justice), somewhere in America a woman is raped every two minutes, and almost 40% are between the ages of 14-17. Most tell no one.
Statistics from RAINN (Rape Abuse and Incest National Network)-
• Every 2 minutes, someone in the U.S. is sexually assaulted.
• Here’s the math. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Crime Victimization Survey –there is an average of 207,754 victims (age 12 or older) of rape and sexual assault each year.
• There are 525,600 minutes in a non-leap year. That makes 31,536,000 seconds/year. So, 31,536,000 divided by 207,754 comes out to 1 sexual assault every 152 seconds, or about 1 every 2 minutes.
JANE is a story about healing, transformation and possibility. Embedded into it are the steps needed for girls and their families to prevent certain kinds of trauma, and if they can’t, to begin healing from them. Film is a powerful tool of social media, but for teenagers in particular, it’s a powerful tool for social education. A central goal of the filmmakers is education. JANE will have a “second life” where it can be brought into schools, community centers or crisis centers as an educational tool accompanied with a specified curriculum. Anyone who believes this is a crucial issue today and desires to help get JANE made, take action:
http://www.jane-themovie.com/blog/take-action-2/To learn more, listen to Debbi Dachinger as she interviews Deborah Allen on Dare to Dream radio, listen via podcast at:
http://www.deborahdachinger.com/interview-archives. Debbi’s Dare to Dream radio show is a syndicated, multi-award winning program, featured in news sources around the world. Dachinger is a bestselling author, keynote speaker and media personality. Dare to Dream radio airs live on the following networks: Indie 100 Morning Inspiration show (Burbank, CA); it is also syndicated on WROM Radio (Detroit), WHTB (Massachusetts)
, Butterfly Radio (Florida), Triangle Variety Radio (USA, Japan, Canada, UK, Australia), LiveJamz Radio (Missouri) and AirCheck (Florida) - all stations also stream worldwide.
