Karen Kilgariff

But her life doesn't really change materially except for the attention and the interest in the story. She still has to make ends meet. So she actually ends up getting some secretarial work and then she will later operate a forklift in a factory for a couple of years before she gets laid off. When this happens, Francine goes through a dark time and she says, quote, I went a little crazy.

But her life doesn't really change materially except for the attention and the interest in the story. She still has to make ends meet. So she actually ends up getting some secretarial work and then she will later operate a forklift in a factory for a couple of years before she gets laid off. When this happens, Francine goes through a dark time and she says, quote, I went a little crazy.

I was partying almost every night trying to escape from something. I drank a lot and I was taking speed. It was like I was trying to self-destruct. Yeah. But it's also, you didn't have a childhood. You basically went from like sophomore year of high school into a nightmare, nightmare marriage, family situation. The trauma that you're not dealing with. Yeah, you know she wasn't in therapy.

I was partying almost every night trying to escape from something. I drank a lot and I was taking speed. It was like I was trying to self-destruct. Yeah. But it's also, you didn't have a childhood. You basically went from like sophomore year of high school into a nightmare, nightmare marriage, family situation. The trauma that you're not dealing with. Yeah, you know she wasn't in therapy.

She wasn't talking to anybody about it. It was like, oh, now... Because it's the abuse, then it's the murder, then it's the infamy. There's so much to deal with that, of course, you just were like, I need to blot it out. This is when Francine meets a man named Robert, who'd recently been released from prison after serving 10 years for armed robbery.

She wasn't talking to anybody about it. It was like, oh, now... Because it's the abuse, then it's the murder, then it's the infamy. There's so much to deal with that, of course, you just were like, I need to blot it out. This is when Francine meets a man named Robert, who'd recently been released from prison after serving 10 years for armed robbery.

The nature of this relationship isn't exactly clear, though a Deep Dive People magazine article from the 80s suggests it wasn't a wonderful relationship. They move in together two weeks after meeting. They get married a month after that at Robert's insistence. And that whirlwind pace can also be a red flag in some relationships.

The nature of this relationship isn't exactly clear, though a Deep Dive People magazine article from the 80s suggests it wasn't a wonderful relationship. They move in together two weeks after meeting. They get married a month after that at Robert's insistence. And that whirlwind pace can also be a red flag in some relationships.

Francine's marriage to Robert strains her relationship with her children. Based on reporting, it seems like they don't, at the very best, they don't like him. And troublingly, one of her daughters will accuse him of sexual abuse, which he denies.

Francine's marriage to Robert strains her relationship with her children. Based on reporting, it seems like they don't, at the very best, they don't like him. And troublingly, one of her daughters will accuse him of sexual abuse, which he denies.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline points out that one risk factor for being in a toxic relationship is a lack of exposure to healthy relationship models or examples. And of course, she meets this guy at a very vulnerable time in her life. So it's not like she's like, okay, I also deserve this, but I went through that. In any case, as all of that is playing out in Francine's actual life,

The National Domestic Violence Hotline points out that one risk factor for being in a toxic relationship is a lack of exposure to healthy relationship models or examples. And of course, she meets this guy at a very vulnerable time in her life. So it's not like she's like, okay, I also deserve this, but I went through that. In any case, as all of that is playing out in Francine's actual life,

The book The Burning Bed gets adapted into the made-for-TV movie that airs on NBC starring Farrah Fawcett as Francine. Over 75 million people watched this made-for-TV movie the night it premieres, including 14-year-old Karen Kilgareff and her mother, Pat Kilgareff, who kept going, I don't think we should watch it. I don't...

The book The Burning Bed gets adapted into the made-for-TV movie that airs on NBC starring Farrah Fawcett as Francine. Over 75 million people watched this made-for-TV movie the night it premieres, including 14-year-old Karen Kilgareff and her mother, Pat Kilgareff, who kept going, I don't think we should watch it. I don't...

This is, Karen, this is very, I don't think, because it truly was like so graphic and like unlike anything ever really had been up until that point. Yeah. So this made for TV movie of Francine's story kicks off a national conversation.

This is, Karen, this is very, I don't think, because it truly was like so graphic and like unlike anything ever really had been up until that point. Yeah. So this made for TV movie of Francine's story kicks off a national conversation.

And according to the New York Times, quote, the number of shelters for battered women grew from a mere handful in 1977 to nearly 700 the year The Burning Bed was televised, which was 1984. Yeah. After this, the term burning bed syndrome becomes the well-known shorthand for the trauma caused by domestic abuse. Wow.

And according to the New York Times, quote, the number of shelters for battered women grew from a mere handful in 1977 to nearly 700 the year The Burning Bed was televised, which was 1984. Yeah. After this, the term burning bed syndrome becomes the well-known shorthand for the trauma caused by domestic abuse. Wow.

And then later in his 2016 book co-written with writer Alan Sepinwall titled TV the Book, television critic Matt Zoller Seitz named The Burning Bed as the seventh greatest American TV movie of all time.

And then later in his 2016 book co-written with writer Alan Sepinwall titled TV the Book, television critic Matt Zoller Seitz named The Burning Bed as the seventh greatest American TV movie of all time.