On Ziva, punches and domestic abuse

[littlesammy]

This rant has been brewing for a while in me, and today feels like a good day to tackle it. It is, however, a controversial topic, and I fully expect some followers to wander off after I voice these thoughts, but in the end? I'd rather look in the mirror than at my follower list. Warnings for possibly triggering content

Comments

[kimmyziva]

I cheer and admire her every single time I watch it! There is no doubt in my mind that he would easily escalate to something more!

She did what she had to do. I will back Ziva all the way, now and forever!

[nakeisha]

Excellent post - really well argued.

And you are right, there's no doubt in my mind from the pictures and the way he did manhandle her that the chances of that escalating into more were incredibly high.

Thank you for making this post.

Also, on the subject of people calling Ziva on what she did, what about all the times Gibbs has physically abused the guilty party? For example in 'See No Evil' he threw the Commander up against the wall. Okay, not a punch, but it was still physical abuse. I have never seen him being called on it.

[butterflybee260]

Mmmhmmm. I saw that quite clearly with Ray, he's textbook for an emotional and physical abuser, and trust me, that is one of the most damaging relationships you can ever be in. Sadly it's hard for many people to recognize those people because they're so good at what they do. Often it takes being burned to see the warning signals, and I'm glad they took him solidly out of the picture.

[mewofford]

He was a liar and a manipulator, we knew that from Two-Faced. So I didn't even think about an abusive situation when I started yelling "you go, girl!!!" in ADM.

I agree with everything you said.
PLUS I'd like to add that his manipulation of her emotionally, and the physically restraining her, really smacked of Eli's idea of fatherhood. If you will remember back to LMS when he wanted Ziva to give him a goodbye kiss and when she did he grabbed her face and would not let her move away...same thing with Ray.

She needs to find someone as far away from being like her dad as possible but not so weak that she'd dominate him.
Someone like Tony maybe?
Gibbs is too much like her.
McGee she would destroy.

Those Ziva haters harp on her pushing him down and pulling a gun on him in Aliyah. My take on that is she was hurt, she was confused, she felt betrayed by just about everyone she cared for and then Tony gets in her face and practically begs her to hit him. Damn, he was lucky she DIDN'T shoot him.

[mewofford]

Did I ever tell you I love it when you rant?