Karla, a film re-enactment of the unspeakable crimes committed by Karla Homolka and her husband Paul Bernardo, opens in theatres today, starring That ’70s Show actress Laura Prepon. The film’s release of the film was postponed until January, and it was removed from the Montreal World Film Festival after its screening encountered considerable public opposition.
Interestingly, the film was originally titled Deadly. It was subsequently renamed Karla following Homolka’s release after serving 12 years in prison for her involvement in the murders of three teenage girls, including her younger sister, Tammy.
While the producers and all those involved have a right to freedom of expression and to make the film, we do not necessarily see the benefit in doing so. Some might argue that some critically-acclaimed films, like Monster, Boys Don’t Cry, and Dead Man Walking are based on true, gruesome stories. However, the exploitive nature of the film seems to disregard the families of Bernardo’s victims, Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, for whom the events will forever remain a reality. If anything, Karla serves as a painful reminder of the torture these young women suffered.
As mentioned, Karla is not the first and certainly won’t be the last film that is “based on a true story.” The fact that producers have invested money in the film shows that they expect people to go out and pay to watch it. This points to a deeper societal issue. We need look no further than the popularity of television shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Law&Order: Special Victims Unit, in which characters are brutally murdered on a consistent basis. The reasons why people watch are endless. It could simply be human curiosity, and our fascination with horrendous and tragically true events. It might also be our way of understanding why these crimes take place or symbolically bringing justice to the victims each time these shows end with the bad guys being caught.
Karla has been marketed as a warning against predators, and its publicists have even gone so far as to encourage parents to take their children to watch. The film is hardly appropriate for children, however, and it will interrupt the opportunity for dialogue that must take place between parents and their children.
Before going to watch Karla, we simply ask that you consider the implications of this decision, out of respect for the victims’ families and for confirming to film and television producers that there is an appetite for reliving a gruesome reality.
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