BATTERED WIFE SYNDROME

Battered wife Syndrome

Battered wife Syndrome

Overview

Based on an actual case, The Burning Bed was one of the most important telefilms ever to deal with women's rights and spouse abuse. Playing a victim of battered woman's syndrome, it was the most critically acclaimed performance of Farrah Fawcett's career. After suffering a beating, her character poured gasoline on the bed in which her former husband slept, ignited it, and killed him. She was acquitted of a murder charge using a defense of temporary insanity. The Burning Bed was broadcast by NBC on October 8, 1984, and it received a large number of Emmy Award nominations. The Burning Bed was named as Best Feature at the first International Television Movie Festival.

Synopsis

The film opens as Francine Hughes (Farrah Fawcett) is fleeing from her burning house with her three children in March 1982. Shortly afterward, she is charged with murder. Her court-appointed attorney, Aryon Greydanus (Richard Mauser) meets with her but finds her dazed and unresponsive. He pleads with her to cooperate, and she finally begins to tell her story, going back to the mid-1960s when she met the volatile Mickey Hughes (Paul LeMat). She fell in love with him, even though she felt he was somewhat of a bully. They marry and eventually had three children, Christy, Jimmy, and Nicole. She becomes terrified of his physical abuse, which began to grow in intensity. She applied for a divorce, gaining custody of her three children.

Mickey then has a terrible automobile accident. When Francine visits him in the hospital, he was entirely covered in bandages. She decides to help with Mickey's rehabilitation, even moving into the small house adjacent to the Hughes' place. As he recovers, Mickey seems to be genuinely grateful. In spite of being pressured by Mickey's parents and her own mother, Francine refuses to remarry Mickey. However, he still considers himself to be her husband. When she tries to leave, he takes custody of the children. She contacts a number of social agencies to assert her rights, but none are able to help her. She realizes that in order to be with her children she has to return to the house adjacent to the Hughes' home.

Mickey's abusiveness continues to get worse. At one point, she has to flee and locks herself in the closet at the home of her in-laws. The police come to get her ...