Abusers And The Films That Reared Them

A “nice guys” filmography

From being damseled, to oversexed, to silenced, the “fairer sex” has not been treated well in pop culture. Women have always been depicted terribly in film, but the way the men in those films treat women is even worse. It’s a trend that goes back for decades: portraying abusive relationships as romantic.

By carefully staging the plot, writers have continuously found ways to make disgusting behavior seem acceptible, necessary, and even downright heroic. This creative alchemy turns terrible men into “nice guys,” and has deeply personal implications that are all too real.

Abusive men are not raised in a vacuum. They are taught to think that their toxic behavior is beyond critique or question. Let’s take a look at how abuse has been portrayed in media, to uncover how popular conceptions of abuse have evolved over time.

This is the history of abuse in media, and the dangerous men those films produced.

The Hay’s Code Era Brought to You by Baby Face.

Frank Fay was a Vaudeville star for many years. He was a master of ceremonies for…