Open Letter to Rihanna and some suggestions for female enpowerment film watching

Dear Rihanna,

First off,I'm not going to start this conversation by saying that I am a big fan of yours; you do have a lovely singing voice and I really like your Umbrella song. Normally,I ignore all of that celebrity romance gossip coverage(life is too short to endless discuss the Brangelina nonsense-move on,already!)but this recent business between you and Chris Brown is disturbing,especially due to the talk about the two of you getting back together.

Now,I know that everyone and their sister will be putting their two cents in on this(by the way,Kayne,you need to shut up. Seriously,for once in your life)and your natural reaction may be to say "This is my life and my relationship and all of you need to stay out of it!" I get that,but many of us out there have seen talented young ladies like you in bad situations like this and we only want to spare you some long term pain.



Perhaps the point can be better made by pop culture. After all,it's what you and Mr. Brown have in common,along with a love of music. Let me recommend a few movies for you to watch and help you do some comparing and contrasting with your own current affair of the heart:

Top of the list is What's Love Got To Do With It,Tina Turner's life story. Angela Bassett and Laurence Fishburne did a great job in bringing this legendary troubled couple on screen,plus Tina's real world experience of getting out of a bad and violent marriage and making a happy life and career for herself is a excellent example for any woman caught in a similar situation to follow:





Waitress might appear to be rather light hearted for this discussion,but there's plenty of substance beneath the crust here. The story centers around a unhappily married waitress named Jenna(who is miserable for a good reason,her husband is a possessive and self centered control freak) played by Felicity Russell who feels even more stuck in her sorry situation when she discovers that she's pregnant.

Eventually, Jenna does find a way out but even her closest girl friends wouldn't trade places with her despite their less than desirable relationship status,not even to be a pie baking natural like she is for a moment:





One of the best known literary victims of an abusive relationship is Nancy from Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist. You can see Nancy defend the bad treatment she gets from Bill Sikes in musical style in Oliver!,but just remember,Bill wound up ending their relationship in a most fatal fashion(for Nancy,that is):



Even the much put-upon Audrey from Little Shop of Horrors wanted more out of life than being a scary dentist's punching bag(where are those devoted nerds with man eating plants around when you need them?)but she needed to be more assertive on her own. Seymour did solve some of her problems but Audrey nearly became plant food at the vines of Audrey II there:



In all seriousness,we're just trying to look out for you,Rihanna. Violence in a relationship is usually not a one time thing and if Mr. Brown wants to get help with that,fine. However,that doesn't mean you should just readily accept an "I'm sorry,honey" and hook right back up with him. It's not good for you or him(especially you,since you are the one who ended up in the hospital)and it would be a real shame to see yet another woman go down this road without putting up a fight for herself.

Take care of yourself and do the right thing,even if that means being manless for a while. Trust me,it's not the end of the world and it's much better than it leading to the end of your life.

Sincerely,

Lady T and all of the independent women in the family