If you were watching NBC on the night of September 10, 1974, you probably weren't expecting to see something that would change American television forever. Most people just wanted to see what Linda Blair would do next. She was the "Exorcist girl," the child star who had just survived the most intense horror production in history. Everyone was curious. But when Born Innocent aired, the country didn't just watch—it recoiled.
It wasn't just a movie. It was a cultural earthquake.
The Shocking Reality of Linda Blair in Born Innocent
Honestly, looking back from 2026, it’s hard to imagine how this got past the censors in the seventies. Linda Blair plays Chris Parker, a fourteen-year-old runaway with a home life that’s basically a nightmare. Her father (Richard Jaeckel) beats her. Her mother (Kim Hunter) just sits there, smoking and ignoring the bruises.
Chris eventually gets tossed into a juvenile detention center. This isn't some "The Facts of Life" boarding school. It's a bleak, grey hellscape where the staff is indifferent and the other girls are predatory.
Then came the scene. You know the one.
The "plunger scene" is arguably the most notorious moment in the history of made-for-TV movies. In a communal shower, Chris is cornered by a group of girls—led by the characters Moco and Denny—and sexually assaulted with a wooden plunger handle.
It was graphic. It was long. It was devastating.
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People lost their minds. NBC’s switchboards lit up like a Christmas tree. Parents were horrified that this had been broadcast into their living rooms at 8:00 PM, an hour when kids were still wide awake.
Why the Movie Sparked a Legal Firestorm
The backlash wasn't just angry phone calls. It turned into a landmark legal battle that reached the California Supreme Court.
Four days after the broadcast, a nine-year-old girl named Olivia Niemi was attacked on Baker Beach in San Francisco. The details were eerily similar to the movie. Her attackers, a group of minors, used a glass bottle. One of them reportedly told police they got the idea from watching Born Innocent.
Valeria Niemi, the girl's mother, sued NBC for $11 million.
The lawsuit, Niemi v. NBC, argued that the network was negligent for airing such "incitement." It took years to weave through the courts. Eventually, in 1981, the court ruled in favor of NBC, citing the First Amendment. They decided that unless the network specifically intended to incite immediate violence, they couldn't be held liable for "copycat" crimes.
Still, the damage to the industry's "anything goes" attitude was done.
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The Death of the "Wild West" of TV
Because of the outcry over Born Innocent, the National Association of Broadcasters created the Family Viewing Hour.
Basically, the networks agreed to keep the 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM slot "family-friendly." No more plunger scenes. No more gritty realism about juvenile rape before bedtime. It was a massive shift in how television was programmed.
Linda Blair: The Teen Martyr of the 70s
For Linda Blair, Born Innocent solidified a very specific, and somewhat tragic, typecasting. She became the go-to actress for "the girl in trouble."
Think about her run:
- The Exorcist (Possessed by a demon)
- Born Innocent (Raped in a reform school)
- Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic (Addicted to booze)
- Sweet Hostage (Kidnapped by a psychopath)
She was barely fifteen and she was carrying the weight of every social taboo on her shoulders. Blair later said she felt the movie actually helped some rape survivors feel less alone, but the personal toll was immense. She had to have a security detail. She got death threats.
People couldn't separate the girl from the roles.
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What People Get Wrong About the Film
Some critics at the time—and even now—dismissed the film as "exploitation." They thought it was just using a young star to get high ratings through shock value.
But if you actually watch it, the film is surprisingly cold and documentary-like. Directed by Donald Wrye, it doesn't have the "campy" feel of later 80s exploitation flicks like Chained Heat. It’s a "downer" movie. There is no happy ending. There’s no scene where the social worker saves the day and everyone hugs.
In the final shot, a hardened Chris joins her former attackers and walks off into the distance. She’s been broken by the system. It’s a revolutionary, albeit miserable, piece of filmmaking.
The Legacy You Can Still See Today
You can't talk about the evolution of "prestige" TV or even true crime dramas without acknowledging this movie. It pushed the boundaries of what a "home" medium could handle.
The movie was eventually edited for rebroadcast. The shower scene was cut. For decades, the unedited version was a sort of "holy grail" for cult film collectors on bootleg VHS tapes. Today, you can find the remastered, uncut version on streaming services, but it remains a tough watch.
How to Approach This History Today
If you're looking to dive into this era of film history, there are a few things you should keep in mind to get the full picture:
- Watch the context: View Born Innocent alongside its "sister" film Sarah T. – Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic. It shows how the industry was trying to use Blair to tackle "social issues" while simultaneously exploiting her image.
- Research the legal impact: Look into the Niemi v. NBC case if you're interested in First Amendment law. It’s a foundational case for why media companies aren't usually responsible for what viewers do after watching a show.
- Check out Blair’s later work: To see her break out of the "victim" mold, watch Savage Streets (1984). It's a total 180—she plays a vigilante taking her power back. It’s the catharsis she never got in Born Innocent.
- Support the cause: Linda Blair eventually left the Hollywood grind to start the WorldHeart Foundation. She spent her life rescuing animals, which is a pretty beautiful pivot from the darkness of her early career.
Ultimately, Born Innocent stands as a reminder that television used to be a lot more dangerous. It wasn't always just background noise. Sometimes, it was a mirror that showed the world things it wasn't ready to see.
To see the real-world impact of Blair's transition from actress to advocate, you can visit the official Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation website to learn about her ongoing animal rescue efforts. For those interested in the cinematic history of the era, the American Film Institute (AFI) archives offer extensive notes on the development of the "Social Problem" TV movie genre that Born Innocent helped define.