The Piano

After reading the prompts for this particular blog, I was actually relieved that the topic of rape was brought up.  While watching the film, I felt so uncomfortable during the sex scenes (which honestly doesn’t really happen to me in most movies), because I felt like Ada never was actually fully consenting to what was going on.  Every time Baines would make a move she looked concerned about what was to come.  She always appeared apprehensive, and not simply because the act was adulterous, but because she really wasn’t that attracted to Baines.  Even when she would eventually give in, it was never really of her own accord, and always took a good amount of persuasion on his part.  Baines was just trying to control her life just as everyone else in the film was trying to create an emotional prison for her.  The only reason that Stewart was mostly unsuccessful in his attempt to control Ada was because of how obvious his attempts were.  Simply being her betrothed was enough to convince Ada (and originally Flora as well) that she wanted nothing to do with him.  With Baines, Ada felt as though she had some kind of control over the events that transpired because Baines only used his words to convince her to sleep with him instead of using his marital standing with her as Stewart did.