Aldan Char les/Lifetime

arts & entertainment >> on the cover

Running For Her Life

Bonnie Garvin-penned Lifetime movie is
based on the true story of a Detroit-area
woman who fled her Jewish husband's abuse.

Suzanne Chessler I Contributing Writer

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Garvin has scripted a number of films to
address various social issues, and Carlucci
has made other films about domestic vio-
lence and its effects.
Run for Your Life, nearly 15 years in
development, will be shown Saturday
evening, Oct. 4, on Lifetime, with many
rebroadcasts. The film was updated and
produced in 2013 — some time after
the A&E network acquired Lifetime and
reviewed the material that had been on
hold.
The release date, falling in line with
the designation of October as Domestic
Violence Awareness Month, picks up
on public outrage expressed toward star
football players recently accused of family
abuse.
Garvin, who took part in Jewish
Community Center programs as she was
growing up in Michigan, did not point
out in the script that Singer's husband was
Jewish and that Singer had been learning
about Judaism although not following up
with conversion.
"The point is that abuse happens in every
group, and it's not about religion or culture,"
says Garvin, whose made-for-TV movie
credits include The Killing Yard, Black
Widower and Girl Fight.
"If I made the plot lean toward some-
body's religion or culture, it would be easy
for people to dismiss the overall impact
or consider events as anomalies, and that
would skew the subject in a bad direction:'
To emphasize the limited and difficult
choices faced by brutalized women, Garvin

structured the movie to play out two drastic
lines of action, one taken and one imagined.
Michael Scott directed the alternating plot
lines with Amy Smart portraying Meredith,
the battered wife. Mark Humphrey took
the role of Robert, the violent husband.
The parts of the daughters went to Aislyn
Watson and Genea Charpentier.
While Garvin has enjoyed a 40-year mar-
riage to attorney James Lafferty, she recalls
two incidents shattering her stereotypical
belief that Jewish men do not behave vio-
lently.
The first incident has to do with a threat-
ening telephone call made to her home by a
Jewish man who had faced assault charges
in court brought by Lafferty on a client's
behalf. The second has to do with desperate
cries from a battered Orthodox neighbor
who refused to press charges against her
husband after others called police.

Amy Smart with Aislyn Watson and Genea Charpentier in Lifetime's Run

for Your Life

Singer, a journalist and teacher while in
Michigan, has ruled out another marriage
because of the need to keep her past secret.
She minimizes repercussions from that
choice because her daughters are happy.
"The only way to effect change in terms
of domestic violence is for people to speak
out," Singer says. As long as women don't
talk about this behavior, it continues to hap-
pen:'

Former Detroiter Bonnie Garvin,
screenwriter of Run for Your Life

Singer's Story
The sensitivities expressed by Garvin's film
gained Singer's approval.
"The movie sends the message that I
wanted it to send, and I was impressed by
that:' says Singer, who spent the first five
years of her marriage in Michigan.
"I was told by a high-ranking detective in
the New York Police Department that I had
a choice: disappear or kill my former hus-
band, and the movie shows that
"It goes on to deal with my decision, just
a small part of my story, and takes a look at
what that decision entails:'
Singer, who suffers long-term effects
from the brutality, sought counseling
for years before establishing a plan that

resulted in a more secure life. Her ultimate
actions occurred after getting divorced and
mistakenly thinking her former spouse's
second marriage would stop the violence.
Singer describes spousal behavior that
started with jealousy, exhilarating at first
because it seemed to indicate that he cared
so much. She details psychological brutality
that was belittling to undermine her spirit,
attempts to keep her isolated and lengthy
outbursts of rage.
"It wasn't until I left him that he became
truly violent:' Singer says. "Eventually, I
decided there was a difference between liv-
ing in fear and living with fear. Today, I live
with fear but I'm no longer in fear in terms
of letting it ruin my life:'

two sons also are fighters. Playing
one is Jonathan Tucker, 32, whose
real-life mother is Jewish.
Meanwhile, the fourth season of

son; the subject is the Bronx section
of New York City.
Anthony Bourdain, 58, a former
top chef and restaurant owner,
surprised many, including myself,
when he disclosed
in September 2013
(while doing a series
episode based in
Jerusalem) that his
mother, a former

Agencies Offer Help
Ellen Yashinsky Chute, chief community
outreach officer at Jewish Family Service,
does not know if instances of abuse in the
Metro Detroit Jewish community have been
increasing, but she does know that more
women are speaking out.
Since 1993, she has been helping Jewish
women address the issues that last year
brought in some 80 clients to JFS, which
offers counseling, case management ser-
vices, referrals for pro bono legal help and/
or shelter.
The National Council of Jewish Women,
through its Greater Detroit Section, sub-
sidizes one apartment to use as a shelter
for those escaping harm. On occasions
when shelter is needed by more than one
individual or single family, there are hotel
placements.

Running on page 73

Jews

I

Nate Bloom

Special to the Jewish News

TV Notes

Yes, Direct TV has joined the many
media outlets that are now offering
original feature pro-
gramming. Kingdom
debuts on the satel-
lite TV service at
9 p.m. Wednesday,
Oct. 8. Frank Grillo
plays a gym owner
and former top mar-
tial
arts fighter. His
Tucker

70

October 2 • 2014

Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown

began on CNN on Sunday, Sept. 28.
I think it may be the best show on
CNN and, in the last year, it won
the prestigious Peabody Award for
its genre-bending combination of
insightful looks into the culture,
politics and cuisine of the countries
Bourdain visits. The episode first
airing at 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5, is
the only one set in America this sea-

New York Times

Bourdain

staff editor, is
Jewish. He added
that his father's

family was historically Catholic and
that he, himself, was raised in no
religion and isn't religious.

At The Movies

Now in theaters is Men, Women
and Children, directed by Jason
Reitman, 36. It offers a poignant

look at the many ways the Internet
has changed the relationships
between teenagers and their
parents. Co-stars include Adam
Sandler, 48, and Detroit-born
actress Judy Greer.

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