A second, deeper look at Lorena Bobbitt

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/02/2019 (2611 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

What do we really know about Lorena Bobbitt?

Twenty-five years after the trials of Lorena and ex-husband John Wayne Bobbitt captivated the world, the woman who cut off her husband’s penis remains infamous for that act, and all the jokes that came after.

But Amazon’s new Jordan Peele-produced documentary Lorena seeks to reclaim the narrative and illuminate an episode of modern American history long boiled down to a punchline.

The docuseries, which spans four hour-long episodes, focuses the story away from her act and toward the deeper tale of domestic violence and sexism. It is equal parts informative and evocative, finding deeper layers in a saga many people think they know.

For many people from younger generations, or older folks who don’t remember or didn’t pay attention in the early 1990s, the documentary is educational. Even though it often focuses on facts from the case publicly available at the time, many of them — especially about the abuse Lorena Bobbitt endured — weren’t highlighted in the press.

One of the most powerful aspects of Lorena is the trial footage, including Lorena Bobbitt’s testimony. Long stretches of her describing rape and abuse are included as she sobs on the stand.

The documentary also shows multiple witnesses testifying about the abuse she suffered from her husband, including evidence of injuries and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Her fear of deportation if she left him (she was born in Ecuador and immigrated to the U.S. as a young adult) is a prominent part of the documentary. In current and past footage, she expresses her strong belief in the American dream, and that portrait is vastly different from the sometimes racist media depictions of her as a “fiery Latina.”

She recalls that at one point in her case, she rejected a plea deal because a felony conviction would have ended her dream of becoming an American citizen.

More than anything, the documentary is an indictment of a media and culture that squeezed every ounce of tabloid drama from the incident yet ignored the domestic violence at the root of the case.

In interviews, the way Lorena Bobbitt was hounded by reporters and media personalities comes into stark relief. Geraldo Rivera, she says, sent her signed photos to try to woo her for an interview, and his camera crew tried to film her inside her home during the trial. During the 45 days Lorena Bobbitt spent in a Virginia state mental hospital, Barbara Walters pursued an interview, but she turned it down.

Speaking about her relationship with the media now, she says she sees it as a “double-edged sword,” a circus but also a way to raise awareness of domestic violence. Both aspects are seen in a clip of her as a guest on The Steve Harvey Show, where she makes eloquent statements about domestic violence, bringing the studio audience to its feet amid the host’s jokes about waking up next to a severed penis.

But the filmmakers are less optimistic about changing our scandal-hungry culture. Near the end of the docuseries, one of the talking heads theorizes that, had the case happened today, Fox News would have stepped into the role of stalwart John Bobbitt defender and radio provocateur Howard Stern.

John Bobbitt tried to contact her many times in the past 25 years. Near the end of the documentary, Lorena Bobbitt (now Lorena Gallo) reads a series of letters John Bobbitt sent her after the trials. The film also shows Facebook messages and other forms of digital communication appearing to be from him, sent over the past decade.

He says he should have been a better husband and she was the best woman he has ever been with.

In one message, he mentions how much money the pair could make if they reconciled, and suggests they could have a child who would generate interest from paying media.

In his interview, John Bobbitt claims it was Lorena who first reached out, inquiring how much money he had. He says it was only after that he contacted her, and suggested it would be a big deal if they got back together (although he says nothing about a baby).

— USA Today