Perspectives on violence against women in Thai film: The Eternity

Abstract

There are many forms of violence in films with regard to culturally unique factors and differences in religion, or ethnic origin, which are expected to influence attitudes towards violence against women. In line with this context, film is a good source to study violence against women. This study examined violence against women in direct, structural, and cultural ways in ‘The Eternity’ (Chua Fa Din Sa Lai), a Thai film by Bhandevanop Dhevakul, a prominent Thai film director. A series of in-depth interviews with respondents was conducted in Thailand. The respondents were three policymakers, five academics, three NGO leaders, two film critics, two film directors, and a newspaper editor in Thailand. The data were analyzed thematically using the NVivo 10 software. This study discovered that violence against women persisted and was embedded in the film, which contained direct violence, structural violence, and cultural violence. Direct violence appeared as raping, slapping, beating, and humiliation, while structural violence included inequality, primitive society, and power structure. Cultural violence was embedded as power acceptance, patriarchy, and marital bondage. The significance of this study is in providing a deeper understanding of the circumstances associated with violence against women in Thai films. This study may benefit the film industry and film classification by drawing attention to violence against women in films and thereafter minimizing it.