Season 2 Episode 9: Finally! A Realistic Feature Film About Coercive Control: An Interview with Chyna Robinson and Tracy Rector
About This Episode
Domestic violence has been depicted in feature movies before. Enough, The Burning Bed, and Sleeping with the Enemy depended on star power to draw in their audiences. Once Were Warriors, the dark, award-wining New Zealand classic, explored violence in an urban Maori family. Now the award-winning feature film No Ordinary Love joins this pantheon of movies that glues viewers to their seats with view of intimate violence and abuse that is far too familiar to many of us. In this movie, coercive control, the topic of a current global conversation about how best to respond to domestic violence, is center stage.
Join Ruth and David as they interview writer, director, producer Chyna Robinson and executive producer Tracy Rector, the powerhouse pair behind No Ordinary Love, a movie about two families where status and power intertwine with coercive control. In one family, the pastor uses religion as tool of control. In the other family, a survivor struggles with a partner, whose job as a police officer increases danger instead of safety and protection.
David and Ruth talk to Chyna and Tracy about the mission behind the movie, the artistic choices associated with depicting coercive control, and the strong positive response the movie has already received. Tracy and Chyna bring their own personal experiences and cultural perspectives to speak to intersectionalities such as race and religion and the impact of cultural attitudes and systemic failures on Black women survivors.
Additional Resources
Safe & Together Institute’s domestic abuse–informed trainings
Safe & Together Institute’s upcoming events
David Mandel’s book Stop Blaming Mothers and Ignoring Fathers: How to Transform the Way We Keep Children Safe from Domestic Violence