Exploitation comes in many forms. While the repeated acts of pedophilia (reportedly) committed by a former longtime assistant to a college football coaching legend has reminded us yet again about the various and unconscionable methods of predatory behavior, it is perhaps easier to overlook the more subtle means of ill-treatment that we often commit amongst ourselves, which is furthermore confounding when those who might be in a position to help simply refuse to see the antagonist for what he or she really is.
A comedic legend who recently bore his soul in a way that virtually no-one ever suspected added his perspective to this snowballing phenomenon of pervasive maltreatment that, in one way or another, affects us all:
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"I mean, can you imagine the desperation of a child who chooses to believe that he did this to himself, just so he doesn't have to consider the idea that his mother did it, or his parents did it? Because you know, Terry, I'll tell you something. I hope this - I don't know anything about you, but I think it's completely barbaric to shake hands with and seek help from the person who caused your injury. That will make you sick."
– Saturday Night Live alum Darrell Hammond, during the November 7, 2011 broadcast of NPR’s Fresh Air. His new book, "God, If You're Not Up There, I'm F*cked: Tales of Stand-Up, 'Saturday Night Live' and Other Mind-Altering Mayhem," details the methodical brutality he suffered from his mother, who beat, stabbed, and tortured him for years. Consequently the 57-year-old Hammond has been in psychiatric treatment continually since age 19.
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