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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR: So, how did that affect you? What — I mean, he did not rape you but he molested you. How did you cope with that as a kid?
SALLY FIELD, ACTRESS: You know, it was my whole life and it, you know, grew and grew and grew into more kind of erotic play as I got older and older. And as a child at 7 and 8 and 9 and 10, I knew that there was something inside me that wanted it to stop, but I didn’t know it was any different than any other child. I didn’t know that it was something I had a right to scream about and that this feeling wasn’t just because I was wrong. And, you know, the complication of — one of the complications of child abuse, whether it’s, you know, sexual or physical or verbal, is that you — the child is so complicated in its need to be loved. And certainly, I was mixed up in how much I adored him and how much he terrified me. And what wired in my brain is that, therefore, what love was is that you have to also be terrified. You were seen and somehow valued but you were terrified and deeply felt were you were in danger. So, the patterns that get set in a child’s mind then is that forever after you are looking to that kind of example is love? No. And I think as adults, our whole lives we’re trying to undo some of the webs that are holding on to us from childhood.
AMANPOUR: So, when you see what’s going on right now today with Brett Kavanaugh and these allegations, which he denies —
FIELD: Yes.
AMANPOUR: — but, you know, allegation that come from the 1970s or a long time ago when they were 17 years old.
FIELD: Yes.
AMANPOUR: And people say, “Oh, well, it was a long time ago and –”
FIELD: Yes. And it no longer counts, and that’s not right. Trust me, it never goes away. It never goes away. Whether it’s, you know, an abusive stepfather that is throughout your childhood or it’s in your young adulthood, when, you know, somebody believes they have rights that aren’t theirs, and it never goes away. I believe that these women have lived with it and swallowed it and tried to submerge it and forget about it, you don’t forget about it, and it colors your relationships. Trust me, trust me, I trust no one,
About This Episode EXPAND
Christiane Amanpour interviews William Burns, Former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State; and Sally Field, actress and author of”In Pieces.” Alicia Menendez interviews Jose Antonio Vargas, author of “Dear America” and founder, Define American.
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