"Enough"

The tagline for the movie "Enough" (starring Jennifer Lopez) is "Everyone has their limit". I certainly hit mine while trying to watching this POS (piece of doo-doo) movie. Fortunately, I recorded it on my trusty TiVo so I was able to skim through the bad parts... which ended up being most of it. Being a cardio kickboxing instructor, my favorite part of the movie was where Slim (JLo) trains to fight. Emphasis on the TRAINING, and not where she actually beats the crap out of her husband, Mitch (Billy Campbell). In fact, I'm inspired to take a self-defense workshop hosted by Women Defending Ourselves here in the Bay Area.

I'm glad that the movie raises awareness of domestic violence, and illustrates how unacceptable it is, but I don't agree with its message that it is okay to murder your abuser. I intentionally used the word "murder" as opposed "kill" since I've watched enough "Law & Order" to know that it's first degree murder (as opposed to manslaughter) where there is intent.

I applaud the efforts of organizations such as Calgary-based HomeFront, whose mission is to reduce domestic violence through coordinated community action, involving social service agencies, law enforcement and the criminal justice system. They have created some graphic yet effective ads depicting violence in public settings: a boardroom and a restaurant, as a comparison to domestic violence. They're difficult to watch but make their point well. Thanks to MetaFilter.com where I saw the link.