The videotapes symbolize the book’s primary theme, The Futility of Trying to Escape the Past. These tapes have the power to concretely bring the past into the present, which is the last thing that Callie or Leigh wants. This power of the videotapes to bring the past into the present is seen most tangibly when Callie hooks up with Sidney, and Sidney sadistically plays the old videotapes of Buddy raping Callie so that Callie has to listen to her own assault: “Buddy, please, it hurts too much please stop please… Her own voice, fourteen years old. Hurting. Terrified” (334). Through Callie’s horror, the reader is transported into the moment, and the past becomes the present.

The videotapes speak to the sisters’ need for control over the past. As long as other people hold the videotapes—Andrew/Trevor, Reggie, Sidney, Linda—Callie and Leigh lack control, and the tapes can be used against them, to threaten them, blackmail them, or inflict emotional distress. It’s symbolically significant that Leigh is only able to reclaim the videotapes until after the women have confronted their pasts (Leigh by confessing to Callie, and Callie by killing Andrew/Trevor). When Linda hands over the original tapes to Leigh, she is finally empowered and in control.