It’s a story often left to fiction to depict in movies, on television and in novels. But the authors of this particular story have not made up the information — they have only substituted the names of real people for fictional characters.
In the PBS Documentary “Telling Amy’s Story,” the film confronts the generally taboo issue of domestic violence through the narration of a real story: Amy Homan McGee’s life.
McGee was a Centre County resident, graduate of Penn State, Verizon Wireless employee and mother to two children, when Vincent McGee – her husband – murdered her in Nov. 2001.
Narrated by State College Det. Deirdri Fishel and hosted by actress and activist Mariska Hargitay, “Telling Amy’s Story” chronicles the events that occurred prior to McGee’s death. Although there were those who said they saw signs of abuse, no one knew all the details of McGee’s life, Fishel said.
“The story is told from the perspective of someone who became aware of the events after they happened,” she said. “This perspective became quite frustrating… [Because] it is much easier to look back now and see all the times when something might have been done differently, but we have to remember, at the time of Amy’s death, no one person knew all of this information.”
In 2007, the Centre County Women’s Resource Center and Penn State Center for Women Students worked together to create a three-part training session on domestic violence for Penn State faculty, Project Director and Funding Executive Melanie Doebler said.
The middle part of these sessions consisted of Fishel talking about various domestic violence cases, particularly highlighting McGee’s case. But since Fishel could not attend every session, Penn State Public Broadcasting, with funding from the Verizon foundation, created a video, and the first version of “Telling Amy’s Story” was born, with Fishel as the narrator.
“When we saw her tell the story, we though we not only have a really compelling story that can help people understand domestic violence in a more personal way, but we also knew we had an amazing story teller,” Doebler said.
But after receiving positive audience feedback for the documentary, Penn State Public Broadcasting decided to create a version that could be shown nationwide.
“The good thing about this documentary is we’ve had the opportunity to show it to a lot of people as we crafted it…we’ve been able to tailor it to the audience,” Producer and Director Joe Myers said. “When the documentary finishes, often there is silence in the room for 30 seconds to a minute, but in that silence people very quickly want to take constructive action.”
In order to create a longer public documentary, the filmmakers needed more funding. They went to the Verizon foundation to ask for some help.
Domestic violence awareness is one of two key initiatives at Verizon Wireless – and they granted the filmmakers the money.
“Amy was a Verizon Wireless employee, so this is a very personal issue for all of us at Verizon, and it tied in well with our mission,” Dan Mead, chief operating officer of Verizon Wireless, said.
Mead was also the person who first proposed that Verizon Wireless fund the training program and documentary, after he heard about the concept while he was at Penn State for business meetings in 2006, he said.
Myers said that although creating the documentary was an “emotionally difficult process,” McGee’s story is one that needs to be told.
“When people are assaulted on the street, we see that as an important issue, but traditionally when people are assaulted in the home, we often turn away,” he said. “We often say that is not my business because its happening behind closed doors, but they are the same thing.”
Fishel said she hopes the documentary will not only help those who are suffering from domestic violence, but will also be the catalyst of community discussions about domestic violence.
“The value of the documentary is in touching lives of those who need to hear that they are not alone,” she said. “Many times victims of violence don’t know who they can talk to or how they can get safe. I anticipate this documentary will start discussions all over the nation about this very real, very dangerous issue.”
With the documentary, a “toolkit” is available on the website http://telling.psu.edu/ to guide community discussions and erase fear associated with talking about domestic violence, Fishel said.
Mead also said that it is important for communities to take action against domestic violence.
“This is not an epidemic that we should live with,” he said. “Somewhere between 25 and 30 percent of women in the U.S. will be victims of domestic violence in their lifetimes…At the end of the documentary, you’ll see discussions about what you need to do to take action.”
Communications Director at the National Network to End Domestic Violence Brian Namey said he hopes that the documentary’s audience will be “inspired to take action.”
“I hope the audience will realize that domestic violence can affect anyone, and everyone needs to be a part of the solution,” he said.
Namey added that the National Network to End Domestic Violence provided information for the documentary’s website and was “on hand as a supporter.”
“Telling Amy’s Story” will premiere at a private showing June 4 in State College. But Doebler said they plan to show the documentary again to run in tandem with October’s Domestic Violence Awareness Month, when more students will be on campus.
Fishel concludes the documentary’s narration by giving her thoughts about McGee’s tragic story.
“Every time I tell this I think to myself make it end differently, make it end with a happy ending, and I can’t because this really happened in the life of Amy Homan McGee,” she said in the documentary. “And so we have to ask ourselves what can we do as a community to change the ending for another victim.”