Netflix just released a new limited series titled Maid. This is a series about a female character named Alex who is involved in an abusive relationship. Together, she and her abuser Sean have a 3-year-old daughter named Maddy. As the first episode unravels, it becomes prevalent that Alex was abused by her significant other through threats verbally and physically. She decides that she needs to put her daughter and her own safety ahead of remaining constrained to the trailer that Sean owns and makes a run for it with Maddy. Alex manages to drive away, but upon driving away realizes that she has no money and no home because Sean also demanded to be in control of all the money between the two of them. Alex does her best to attempt to make ends meet by going to social services to strive towards financial stability and have a roof over their head, thanks to a domestic abuse shelter that they are directed to. After being brought to court by her abuser Sean because of custody over Maddy, she is told that there is not enough evidence for the state of Seattle to determine Sean to be abusive therefore they give Sean custody over Maddy, and Alex only has certain visitation rights. This is when Alex realizes that getting her daughter safe and doing it legally was going to be much harder than expected. Alex realized that Sean, a white male was controlling over her on numerous levels including physically, mentally, and financially but was going to win until she was able to show the legal system who he really is. The next couple of days she got a job and signed up for more government assistance and other similar programs, while also attempting to apartment shop to provide a safe place to go to following her time at the domestic violence shelter.
As the series continues, Sean can convince Alex that she needs to move back in if he wants to have any visitation with Maddy and he wins. Alex is being abused again and hides in her daughter’s room to avoid her drunken partner when he comes home from work, but she discovers that he is having an affair with his co-worker. Once again, she makes her case to leave Sean with Maddy and asks people who are aware of the situation to vouch for her, and their reasoning to not is that she will never win against a white male with a stable job. They say she should be happy with what he provides rather than complain about the abuse. In Maid, the white male who is an abuser is not held accountable for numerous reasons including is in with the court system and the state of Seattle’s regulations of what is considered domestic violence.