A foreign film that takes place in India in the 1980's. An 8 year old girl wakes up to be asked if she remembers getting married. No. Her husband has just died and she is required to go live in a home for widows. She must wear a white linen sari all the time signifying her misfortune. A woman in India lives while her husband lives, and following his death she must also die partly. "Why must I live like I am dead if only part of me is dead?" She asks. The separation from her parents is dramatic....obviously, since she is only 8.
The little girl becomes the hope for the women. She offers life.
While all the other woman embrace their destiny the little girl constantly pushes and asks all the tough questions. "Where do the men widows go," she asks. She is shunned.
The woman have no way to earn money and live so certain beautiful women are used as prostitutes.
Changes are beginning to happen throughout the movie. A law is passed that widows no longer have to be separated from society...but no one follows it. The untouchables are called children of God as well. (Even though many won't embrace that idea either).
So this gorgeous woman in the widow home is exploited to this rich Brahmin on a regular basis. Meanwhile she is beginning to spend time with this good looking Indian who thinks modernly. He doesn't care that she is a widow. So they begin to fall in love. Finally, he shares his heart with his family. Another moment of shunning. Finally, the agree to meet her. While crossing the river to his mansion she aks the name of his father. And yes, it's the same man who has been paying for sex. She orders him to take her back and kills herself.
The next day the little girl is sold to the old man for the evening.
So I thought that this would be a great movie for movie night at our house except I forgot about the following topics along the way: suicide, sexual exploitation of a child, and severe loss.
Overall, I liked the movie. I am thankful that many of these things in India no longer happen in big cities.
It's funny how much people from this part of the world criticize the west and our disgusting pornography, movies, television shows, Hollywood....but I guess we are open about it. We don't promise "safety" and then offer your child to old men.
1 comment:
I am reminded of the British, who to their horror on arriving in India were often confronted with the sight of a live widow burning on her husbands pyre. Thankfully for India's widows today, they had the moral fortitude to put an end to that practice, though what remains is obviously still less than ideal. I shudder to think what today's multiculturalists would do if confronted with this barbaric practice--hey guys its their culture, right.
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