At this very last day of year 2019, I would like to share a film regarding the topic of concern to me throughout the year, which is child sexual abuse. Do you know how prevalent child sexual abuse is in Malaysia? According to a report by The Star online, one out of every 10 children are sexually abused in our country. During the past few months, I was honoured to join a stage drama and take the role as a little girl who was sexually assaulted. To help me getting into the character, I did research from survivors’ experience and that was when I found the film, Bite.
Bite was a 30-minute fiction film narrating a story of a love-seeking girl being sexually abused by her teacher in school. Thanks to the director, Charlotte Lim, for accepting my request of interview to exchange her thoughts with me. This is the sixth short film she directed, but it is the very first time she challenged herself to explore a sensitive social issue in her film.
Let’s Take a Peek at the Story
The story begins with the scene where a nine-year-old girl, Li Qi, buying bread on herself in a bakery. She could not even pay for the bread. What happens to this poor girl? She has not seen her mother for few days. Her effort to find her mother has been failed.
At school, Li Qi is always alone. Her family issue makes her look very different with other cheerful school girls. Disappointment makes her sulky. She could not fit in with the rest. That causes her to be the victim bullied by her schoolmates.
Saving her from the bullies, Li Qi’s teacher shows care and concern on her. When Li Qi finds love and recognition from the teacher, she starts to develop trust and relationship with him. However, the teacher takes advantage of her eagerness to seek love...
Hero Behind the Scene, Charlotte the Director
A sexual harassment case happened to a child of Charlotte’s relative motivated her to tell the story through her lens. Having a similar experience of being molested, Charlotte believes that filmmaking is like an act of self-surgery. To Charlotte, the filmmaking process can dig and reflect her inner feelings. She made a joke that she may die in pain of “surgery” if she makes films frequently. The film was created with her hope to remind children to always protect themselves. The story focuses on human psychological need, hunger and desire, including the hunger of love portrayed by Li Qi and the desire of sex symbolised by the teacher.
"I cannot make films frequently; it may cause me to die in pain of self-surgery. " - Charlotte Lim
What would the director say about Li Qi, the victim?
“Li Qi is a love-seeking girl,” this was how Charlotte described the main character in her story. Li Qi’s need and desire of love were fulfilled by the teacher. At the moment the teacher shared his secret with her, she found herself being trusted and tried her best to give back to him. Unfortunately, this led her to the path that she could never expect.
A news report of Oriental Daily proved that the fiction story directed by Charlotte can turn out into real cases that happen around us. According to the news report, 95% of child sexual abuse perpetrators were people known to victims. In one of the sharing sessions after the screening of the film, a counselor from Life Line Association Malaysia told the audience that perpetrators usually find it easier to lure the children who know and trust them because this kind of victims are more approachable and controllable. Victims are always asked to believe that sexual assault is a demonstration of how much they are loved, referring to an article from The Star online.
The Life Line counselor added that children are unable to draw a clear distinction between the feelings of being loved and being sexually assaulted when the perpetrators are someone they know. Charlotte also depicted the feelings of the character Li Qi, “Being an innocent child, she was uncertain about the sensuous feel of being touched. She felt the pleasure and excitement. This led to her devastation when she realised that the touch is not a sign of love.” In other words, she felt betrayed by someone she trusted and felt ashamed of herself.
In most of the child sexual abuse cases, the perpetrators are
someone close to the the victims, including teachers.
Video Courtesy: Oriental Daily News Malaysia
What would the director say about the teacher, the perpetrator?
Sometimes it is those who appear the most respectable having the most evil thought in minds. The teacher in the film represents those who well-behave themselves because of their social role and status. Charlotte characterised the teacher as an individual who hides his feelings deep in heart. The self-oppression in long term may turn into serious consequences. She added that the individual encounters sudden outburst of emotions due to the inability to deal with own desire. “He loses control when his feelings overtake his mind,” Charlotte said.
Pre-production Process: Casting
Finding the right person to play the role of Li Qi is not an easy task to do. During the stage of audition, Charlotte could not find the “right girl”, although a lot of professional child actresses were recommended to her. Why? “Because they are too pretty,” she confessed. Charlotte aimed to break the myth that “only girls who are beautiful would be raped.” She emphasized that perpetrators do not target a beautiful prey, but an easy prey.
The final candidate participating in the audition impressed Charlotte. She is normal but special. She had no acting experience. However, she is imaginative, mature and active. The little girl successfully caught Charlotte’s eyes. She is very keen to take the role, but her parents are not. With the consideration of the sexual harassment scene, the parents refused their daughter to take the role. “I even tried to find a stunt for the sexual assault scene,” Charlotte mentioned. After several efforts negotiating with the parents, Charlotte finally obtained the parents’ permission for their daughter to play the character.
Regarding the role of the teacher, Charlotte has invited the famous local actor, Frederick Lee to take the challenge. Charlotte mentioned that the teacher should be a young man of integrity who looks smart. “That kind of teacher is always attractive to little girls,” said the director, “This makes them get no defensive towards the teacher.”
Production Process: Shooting
“That is the first time I doubted myself whether I have done something wrong,” Charlotte worried that she might hurt the child actress when she was shooting the sexual abuse scene. “I was so nervous, I even trembled when I recalled the expression in her mother’s eyes,” she confessed.
At the time Charlotte and her team were shooting the scene of sexual abuse, the mother of the actress suddenly collapsed emotionally and asked the team to stop shooting. Charlotte felt angry initially because the mother’s reaction had affected the filming progress. She could not understand why the mother suddenly changed her mind despite their previous agreement. Nevertheless, she expressed deep regret when she calmed down. “I asked the mother whether we should send her daughter for counseling service,” but fortunately they found the little actress remains cheerful and active. “She is a mentally strong girl,” Charlotte said with a smile of relief.
Post-production Process: Screening
The film Bite was screened in sharing sessions with a diversity of audiences, including parents and primary school pupils. Charlotte said the the variety of audiences showed different types of reactions. “You may think that the primary school pupils cannot understand the meaning of the film, but they can, they are most relatable to the character in the film,” she mentioned.
Charlotte found herself being “cured” in one of the sharing sessions when a counselor shared her opinion. The counselor commented that the gift from the teacher means the whole world to Li Qi. No matter the gift is a big beautiful cake or just a glass of water, it symbolises a priceless love in the perspective of Li Qi. “I suddenly realised myself is similar to Li Qi, who is a girl lacking of love,” Charlotte said the character in her film reflected herself in real life.
Conclusion
In short, Charlotte turned the spotlight on the sensitive issue of child sexual abuse through her lens. As the director, she found the film a mirror to herself. With the hope of raising children’s awareness to protect themselves, Charlotte urged people to confront the issue no matter how unpleasant it is. The consequences of child sexual abuse are complex and everlasting. And I would like to emphasize that child sexual abuse does not only happen to girls. Boys are always the potential victims as well. Therefore, please pay your attention to children around you. Please protect them from the evil darkness and give them a brighter world with love and kindness.
For those who need help, please do not hesitate to call the counseling service hotline of Life Line Association Malaysia, 03-42657995 or visit its official website, lifeline.org.my.
References
Indramalar, S. (2019, November 29). One in 10 Malaysian children are
sexually abused, usually by those they trust. The Star Online. Retrieved 31 December, 2019, from
Lee, A. (2019, August). A movie meditator: Truth becomes fiction when the fiction's true, Director Charlotte Lim. Wu Ben, 2, 12-27.
Oriental Daily. (2016, June 26). According to statistic: One sexual abuse case happens in every 35 minutes. Retrieved 31 December, 2019, from
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