Abstract—Musically talented Silvia, the female protagonist of
the 2011 Spanish film,
No Tengas Miedo (
Don’t Be Afraid), was
delicately and powerfully portrayed as a young woman who had
been sexually abused by her father since she was a little girl.
Through dramatic plot and storyline, the film creator presented
the remarkable process of healing which was employed by
Silvia, and it naturally provided a chance for the audiences to
experience the protagonist’s sufferings in her severely wounded
soul and/or healed themselves along with her. This paper means
to analyze such a process presented in the film which has high
capability to heal and empower the sexual abused, including the
author, who examines this representation. The crucial findings
from the process are creating the sincere community for the
abused to share their anxieties and sufferings, and encouraging
them to accept and face their fears.
Index Terms—Empowerment, female representation, healing
process, child sexual abuse.
Pogkrong Boon-Long is with the College of Interdisciplinary Studies,
Thammasat University, Bangkok, Thailand (e-mail:
dmtu1234@yahoo.co.th).
[PDF]
Cite: Pogkrong Boon-Long, " Empowering the Abused Souls in No Tengas Miedo (Don’t be Afraid)," International Journal of Social Science and Humanity vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 368-373, 2015.