A Crazy Love Story Essay

Domestic violence in today’s society has become common and normalized in the United States. When people think of domestic violence, they go straight for physical violence against women. But according to â€Å"domesticviolence.org;† Domestic violence and emotional abuse are behaviors used by one person in a relationship to control the other. Partners may be married or not married; heterosexual, gay, or lesbian; living together, separated or dating. The documentary Crazy Love is such a great example because it is a story of two lovers named â€Å"Burt Pugach† and â€Å"Linda Riss,† who are a perfect example of domestic violence. Burt became enraged that Linda would leave him even though he was still married. In a very vicious manner, Burt hired three black males to go to Linda’s house and to throw acid on her face. Linda received permanent blindness in both of her eyes and a very scarred face. Burt was in prison for 14 years while he still tried to be in contact with the woman he hurt so much. He was released from prison after good behavior and because Linda agreed for Burt to support her. It seems that partners even though they are in love, find themselves in abusive relationships. Many abusive relationships are due to wanting to have control of the other person. According to â€Å"domesticviolencestatistics.org;† nearly 1 in 5 teenage girls who have been in a relationship said a boyfriend threatened violence or self-harm if presented a breakup. Domestic violence and abuse is sometimes learned through watching someone being abused. A reason why Burt turned to domestic violence might be because his mother abused him as a young boy. His mother gave Burt severe beatings and they would not stop until his father came home. It gets to a point where it is normal for that person to get hit or be abused in some way. People who were abused or saw someone being abused do not want to be the victim anymore and they would rather be the aggressor because they are familiar with that particular relationship dynamic. (Kathryn Patricelli) An example of a celebrity that had abuse in his life when he was younger and then went on to participate in domestic violence would be Chris Brown. In Chris Brown’s childhood his parents were divorced when he was just six years old. Chris Brown saw his mother get abused by his stepfather. Since Chris Brown was so young when it happened it became part of everyday life for him. Now Chris Brown is notorious for hitting his girlfriend at the time Rihanna. Rihanna, just like Linda went back to the person that abused them. Love is something that can be defined a million different ways because the word â€Å"love† has different meanings to different people. According to Dictionary.com, love is defined as an intense feeling of deep affection. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) This bible quote is very strong because it describes what love is really supposed to be about. According to the verse love is kind. But not all love is kind, like Linda and Burt’s relationship. Love can also bring more characteristics into the definition. Some other words that go along with the word â€Å"love† could be loyalty, respect, honesty, and compassion. As hard as it may seem, Burt does show love towards Linda Riss when he would always see if Linda was all right. He then becomes obsessed with her. Burt brought Linda to breakfast then drove her to work, then picked her up at lunchtime to bring her out to eat, and then at dinnertime Burt would pick her up from work and go out for dinner. Burt said: â€Å"I was making $60,000+ a year when everybody else was making $4,000 a year.† Burt owned a nightclub and Linda was living a life of luxury. â€Å"Crazy† is a term that could have different meaning to people also. According to Dictionary.com, crazy means mentally deranged, and manifested in a wild or aggressive way. Society also has a different definition of the word â€Å"crazy.† Some phrases could be â€Å"Wow. That was so crazy,† meaning that something really spectacular happened. When somebody would commit a crime of passion they are considered crazy. The person would have a brief episode of craziness. Linda and Burt both show their â€Å"craziness† during the film. Burt is a different kind of crazy than Linda. Burt is a man who likes to control and spoil his spouse. He is crazy to even think about harming the one person who he is completely obsessed with and harming her for the rest of her life. Linda is crazy because she stayed with a man that abused her and hurt her. In today’s society domestic violence still exists and is almost common in the United States. More households are having some type of domestic abuse. Domestic abuse has been around for many years and probably will still continue for many years to come. Some intimate relationships turn violent and women are left to figure out what to do. Some women go straight out of the relationship and other women like Linda Riss stay in the relationship and continue getting abused. Annotated Bibliography Hetling, Andrea, and Haiyan Zhang. â€Å"Domestic Violence, Poverty, And SocialServices: Does Location Matter? Domestic Violence, Poverty, And Social Services: Does Location Matter? Domestic Violence, Poverty, And Social Services.† Social Science Quarterly (Blackwell Publishing Limited) 91.5 (2010): 1144-1163. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 Dec. 2012. Works Cited Patricelli, Kathryn. â€Å"Mental Health Care, Inc.† Mental Health Care, Inc. Mental Health Care, Inc., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2012. . â€Å"Definition – Domestic Violence.† Definition – Domestic Violence. N.p., 2009. Web. 01 Dec. 2012. .