Women-in-peril movies can be as cheesy as any other type of TV-movie, yet I have trouble writing about them. This is due to the fact that I can't make fun of them without feeling like a terrible person. It's like... oh, spousal abuse... ummm... moment of silence? Joking should be forbidden or something. But but then again, it's a TV-movie! Making-fun ought to be done! Oh, for the love of quandaries.
Shameful Secrets is the story of Maryanne (Joanna Kerns) and her husband Daniel (Tim Matheson). Daniel is one psychotic, paranoid, cruel, sadistic, moronic, barbaric jerk of a man. He won't allow Maryanne to have any friends. He controls everything she does. And he beats her. By the time we, the viewers, come upon the story, this abuse has been going on for years. Maryanne has let herself believe that she deserves being treated this way.
We see some of the abuse... and naturally it's not pretty. After hurting Maryanne, Daniel tells her he's sorry and that he loves her... but the next night, he does it again, and this time he takes her to bed with a gun pointed at her. She tries to sneak out of the bedroom once he falls asleep, and he gets so angry, he beats her again and she winds up in the hospital.
Maryanne and Daniel have two kids -- Jason, who's about 11, and Josie, who's 8 or 9. The kids have witnessed the fighting and screaming for many years. Jason, in fact, has starting to think that violence is acceptable.
During her hospital stay, Maryanne is visited by a social worker, who's basically like: "Maryanne, I know your husband is abusing you... you need to admit it so we can help you." Maryanne doesn't admit it, but she does try to get away for a while. She tells Daniel she'd like to take the kids and go to her mothers' for a few days. Daniel freaks out, threatening her. A day or so later, when Maryanne checks herself out of the hospital, she returns home to find the locks changed. Daniel won't let her in.
So basically their marriage is kaput at this point, but the big thing weighing on Maryanne's mind is her kids. Daniel won't let her see them. She moves into a shelter for battered women, and eventually gets a job and an apartment. Once she is settled, the courts allow her visitation rights of the kids. But Daniel is given full custody because the courts can't/won't hear Maryanne's testimony about the abuse. Spousal abuse testimony is simply not allowed to be heard in child custody cases.
Meanwhile, Daniel feeds the kids packs of lies about Maryanne -- he tells them that their mommy doesn't love them anymore, and that she wanted to abandon them. They don't really believe him, but the emotional strain of being trapped in this tug-of-war amidst all these conflicting bits of information takes its toll on the children. Jason begins fighting with other kids at school.
During this ordeal, Maryanne learns to stand up for herself. She determines that she does, and always did, deserve better than the crap Daniel always gave her. When her son asks Maryanne why she never stood up for herself when she was being abused, she tells it to him straight -- that she thought she deserved it. Now she knows better.
One day, during her visit with the kids, Maryanne notices that Jason has a black eye. She insists he tell her how he got it, and the truth comes out -- Daniel got angry, backed his son into a corner, and punched him numerous times.
Maryanne is furious and scared. The courts can't protect her kids, so she makes a desperate choice -- she decides to take the children and go "underground." Their names are changed and they essentially hide from Daniel and the court. Maryanne knows that if she is caught, she could be thrown in jail for contempt (and even kidnapping), but she chooses to do this for her kids' sake. They are not safe with Daniel.
Eventually a local congresswoman decides to try to get a law passed that will allow spousal abuse testimony to be heard in child custody cases. A social worker from the shelter, who has been in contact with Maryanne, asks her if she'd like to testify. Risking it all, Maryanne comes forward. Thanks to her testimony and those of other women like her, the law is passed. The custody case opens back up, and this time Maryanne is able to speak out against Daniel and the abuse.
What happens to this family after the custody hearing? They don't say. I can only hope for the best.
This movie was released on DVD under the title Going Underground. Ten bucks says it can probably be found in the bargain bins at Big Lots. Don't be fooled though -- it's a good one. Depressing as hell at times, but good.
