Yours truly has endless respect for films that are several decades old already, but still feel very relevant and impactful today! Not seldomly, such films deal with horrendous - but sadly daily routine - social topics, like rape and its traumatizing aftermath.
The strength of this "The Rape of Richard Beck", a powerful 80s TV-movie directed by Karen Arthur, lies in the simple fact that it turns the tables around. Richard Beck, a most courageous performance by Crenna, is a typically chauvinist and macho copper. He goes on so-called "safaris" just for kicks when he's off-duty, he makes deals with wanted rapists in order to catch other criminals, he proudly shares his heroic stories at the bar, and he doesn't show any care or compassion for female victims of horrible sex-crimes. When he falls victim to sexual abuse during one of his nightly ventures, Beck himself gets confronted with the shame, exposure, pain, humiliation, and fear that thousands of women every year must undergo.
Partially because it's a made-for-television film, but mostly because director Karen Arthur approaches the sensitive subject matter very well, "The Rape of Richard Beck" is a slow-brooding drama gradually nesting itself if your brain. It takes quite a long before the titular rape takes place, but this length is effectively used to draw a very accurate and sadly truthful portrait of how sex-offenses are perceived and dealt with in our society. A frustrated female officer correctly states at one point that sexual assault is less high on the department's priority list than crossing the street during a red light; - and she's pretty much right. I caught myself mumbling things like: "Does it hurt, Richard? In so many more ways than just physically, Richard? Welcome to the agonizing world of thousands of women". If something like that happens, you know you are watching a forceful film.
"The Rape of Richard Beck" will soon be forty years old. Unfortunately, though, not so much has changed. Women and girls still fall victim to loathsome sex-related crimes, and "thanks" to the new digital technologies and social media, they are now even stalked and harassed via their mobile phones and email accounts. Films like this one should be made mandatory viewing in schools and reforming institutes, followed by group discussions.
