History Film / TheGeneralsDaughter

Elisabeth used to be a honor student at West Point and considered a prodigy. Then in her sophomore year, her grades slipped. She had barely graduated and seemed to be a much different person after graduation. The big reveal of the film was the reason for it. [[spoiler:Male colleagues were frustrated at having a woman constantly besting them. So they arranged to have her beaten and gang raped during a training exercise. Her own father covered up the event, to spare West Point of the scandal.]]

** [[spoiler:General Campbell helped cover up his daughter's rape in exchange for a promotion; he tries to justify it with protecting the honor of the base where the rape occurred, but he got another star out of it. Elizabeth could probably have recovered from the rape, but the betrayal was significantly more traumatic, and destroyed her.]]

* AllForNothing: One of the General's reasons for the cover up is that they likely would never be able to bring his daughter's assailants to justice, but the detectives are able to bust them all in a few days despite the trail being years old.\\

However, the reasons why Brenner and Sunhill were able to identify the culprits so quickly were all a result of the timelapse. Campbell's former academy psychologist only revealed the name of one of the culprits after he was distraught by being informed of Campbell's death, and the methods used to get that guy to confess and identify the other perpetrators relied on forensic technology having sufficiently developed in the intervening years to make the threat credible. It's open to speculation how successful the investigation would have been if it were carried out immediately after the fact, and if the military would be willing to break medical ethics in regard to the severity of the crime.

** The entire reason for Campbell's undermining of her father's position by seducing most of his staff, as revenge for the cover-up of her rape at Westpoint.

* DaddysGirl: Subverted. We're initially led to believe that Campbell was an archetypal father's daughter military brat who emulated his choosing a career in the army, but as Brenner and Sunhill discover, they viciously hated each other and evolved into mortal enemies because of what happened at West Point.

* LyingToThePerp: When questioning a suspect in the gangrape, Sunhill pulls out a pair of women's underwear in an evidence bag and leads him to believe that they're Captain Campbell's DNA-evidence-filled underwear from the night of the gangrape. He promptly starts talking about how he tried to stop the rape, and reveals the identities of the other men involved.

* RapeAsDrama: The mystery is mostly an excuse. Most of the film focuses on the rape(s). To the point the murder ends up dismissed as a secondary detail by several characters. As Brenner explains at the end of the film that while [[spoiler:Kent killed Elisabeth, in a metaphorical sense her father was the true killer, as he destroyed her as a person with his betrayal]].

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted. Campbell's psychologist at West Point did all he could to help her recover from the combined trauma of the rape and her father's betrayal. It didn't help, as she had already closed herself off to outside support by then.

Elisabeth used to be a honor student at West Point and considered a prodigy. Then in her sophomore year, her grades slipped. She had barely graduated and seemed to be a much different person after graduation. The big reveal of the film was the reason for it. Male colleagues were frustrated at having a woman constantly besting them. So they arranged to have her beaten and gang raped during a training exercise. Her own father covered up the event, to spare West Point of the scandal.

Our investigators don't only have to capture a single murderer. They have to find out those responsible for the rape and try to expose the high-ranking officers covering up for them. Including her own father.

The film was a moderate box office hit but a critical failure. Its political views are rather ambiguous.

* CallBack: "When this whole thing began I told you that we would find the son of a bitch Sir. I didn't expect [[spoiler:that the son of a bitch would be you]]."

* DaddysGirl: Subverted. We're initially led to believe that Campbell was an archetypal father's daughter military brat who followed in his military footsteps, but as Brenner and Sunhill discover, they viciously hated each other and evolved into mortal enemies because of what happened at West Point.

* CallBack: "When this whole thing began I told you that we would find the son of a bitch Sir. I didn't expect [[spoiler:that the son of a bitch would be you.]]

* DaddysGirl: Subverted. We're initially led to believe that Campbell is an archetypal father's daughter military brat, but as Brenner and Sunhill discover, they viciously hated each other and evolved into mortal enemies because of what happened at West Point.

** Subverted by Brenner in an offhand comment when questioned if he likes his own father.
-->''My father was a drunk, a gambler, and a womanizer. I worshiped him.''

* RapeAsDrama: The mystery is mostly an excuse. Most of the film focuses on the rape(s). To the point the murder ends up dismissed as a secondary detail by several characters.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted; Campbell's psychologist at West Point did all he could to help her recover from the combined trauma of the rape and her father's betrayal. It didn't help, as she had already closed herself off to outside support.

The General's Daughter was a 1999 film, directed by Simon West. It was loosely based on a 1992 novel of the same name by Nelson De Mille. The main stars were JohnTravolta and MadeleineStowe.

* AllForNothing: One of the General's reasons for the cover up is that they likely would never be able to bring his daughter's assailants to justice, but the detectives are able to bust them all in a few days despite the trail being years old.
** However, the reasons why Brenner and Sunhill were able to identify the culprits so quickly were all a result of the timelapse. Campbell's former academy psychologist only revealed the name of one of the culprits after he was distraught by being informed of Campbell's death, and the methods used to get that guy to confess and identify the other perpetrators relied on forensic technology having sufficiently developed in the intervening years to make the threat credible. It's open to speculation how succesful the investigation would have been if it were carried out immediately after the fact, and if the military would be willing to break medical ethics in regard to the severity of the crime.

* CallingTheOldManOut: The entire reason for Campbell's undermining of her father's position by seducing most of his staff, as revenge for the cover-up of her rape at Westpoint.

-->''My father was a drunk, a gambler, and a womanizer. I worshipped him.''
* DaddysGirl: Subverted ''hard''.

* LoveMakesYouEvil[=/=]SexEqualsLove: [[spoiler:Kent fell in love with Elisabeth after she slept with him repeatedly, explaining that he "just wanted to be with her forever". He kills her when she rejects him, because as Sunhill explains she was too emotionally damaged to love anybody]].

** However, the reasons why Brenner and Sunhill were able to identify the culprits so quickly were all a result of the timelapse. Campbell's former academy psychologist only revealed the name of one of the culprits after he was distraught by being informed of Campbell's death, and the methods used to get that guy to confess and identify the other perpetrators relied on forensic technology having sufficiently developed in the intervening years to make the threat credible. It's open to speculation how succesful the investigation would have been if it were carried out immediately after the fact, and if the military would be willing to break medical ethics (not that knowledgeable on military law) in regard to the severity of the crime.

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Averted; Campbell's psychologist at West Point did all he could to help her recover from the combined trauma of the rape and her father's betrayal. It didn't help, as she had already closed herself up to outside support.

* CallingTheOldManOut: [[spoiler:The entire reason for Campbell's undermining of her father's position by seducing most of his staff, as revenge for the cover-up of her rape at Westpoint.]]

* BondageIsBad: Campbell's sexual practices are quickly used to establish that she had become mentally unhinged before her death. Brenner can't even stand to look at the tapes, stating that it couldn't be the same women he met a few days ago.

The investigators soon find out that they have multiple suspects. Campbell was having affairs with most officers on base. The rape no longer seems clear. She was into BDSM and maintained her own sexual dungeon. But looking into their murder victim's background, they discover another mystery.

** However, the reasons why Brenner and Sunhill were able to identify the culprits so quickly were all a result of the timelapse. Campbell's former academy psychologist only revealed the name of one of the culprits after he was distraught by being informed of Campbell's death, and the methods used to get that guy to confess and identify the other perpetrators relied on forensic technology having sufficiently developed in the intervening years to make the threat credible. It's open to speculation how succesful the investigation would have been if it were carried immediately after the fact, and if the military would be willing to break medical ethics (not that knowledgeable on military law) in regard to the severity of the crime.

* AllForNothing: One of the General's reasons for the cover up is that they likely would never be able to his daughter's assailants to justice, but the detectives are able to bust them all in a few days despite the trail being years old.

* TakingYouWithMe: The killer deliberately steps on a landmine in an attempt to blow up Brenner and Sunhill along with himself.[[spoiler: He's the only one caught in the blast]].

* AllForNothing: On of the General's reasons for the cover up is that they likely would never be able to his daughter's assailants to justice, but the detectives are able to bust them all in few days despite the trail being years old.

* RapeAsDrama: The mystery is mostly an excuse. Most of the film focuses on the rape(s). To the point the murder ends up dismissed as a secondary detail by several characters.