Friday, January 23, 2004
This Is What Happens...
…when I get to see so many films, none of which are by or about white men.
I saw Silent Waters today, directed by a woman from Pakistan named Sabiha Sumar. As a film it was stunning. But this isn’t why I am writing today.
First, let me tell you about the film. The story, about a woman and her son, mostly takes place in 1979 when Islamic martial law was enacted in Pakistan. As the film unfolds, the woman, Ayesha, has flashbacks to 1947 when Pakistan was separated from India. Each time she has a flashback, you see more of her story but we don’t see its entirety until the end of the movie.
Ayesha is probably 50 with warm, bright, loving eyes. She cares for her son and teaches Islam to young girls in her town. We see her celebrating the wedding of a friend’s daughter and helping another friend make clothes for the other young women in town.
Then two men come into town to spread the word about Islamic law and to get young men to “fight for Pakistan”. Her son joins these men and this drives a wedge between Ayesha and her son.
I won’t spoil this film for you but suffice it to say that in 1947 and in 1979 women are the currency of hatred.
See it.
I don’t, however, want you to see this and spend time pointing fingers at Islamic “extremists” or the Sikhs who would murder their women before “handing them over” to Muslims. I prefer to see this film as a mirror.
I am still crying about this movie. Yes, I’m grieved at the story that this film tells. I grieve for the women in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and everywhere else where women aren’t at the table when decisions are made about the law of the land.
But what grieves me more is that women still are mostly exluded from that table here in the United States. You doubt me? We have a lot of politicians who have no qualms with making a law about women’s health without consulting women. Whether you are pro or anti choice, doesn’t it strike you that there are no women in the picture as Bush signs a law that affects only women?
It’s not only Bush either. Take a look at your city council, Governor’s office, your state legislatures, our Congress, the slate of presidential candidates before us.
The same can be said for people of color, and I don’t mean only African-Americans.
It’s easy for me to get discouraged and I don’t mean for you to be discouraged by reading this. I find hope in manyplaces and people.
Vote.
I am writing because I want my niece, when she’s 50, to see a movie about how we turned our world around by coming to the table. I want to her to see that women are the currency of change in 2004.
I saw Silent Waters today, directed by a woman from Pakistan named Sabiha Sumar. As a film it was stunning. But this isn’t why I am writing today.
First, let me tell you about the film. The story, about a woman and her son, mostly takes place in 1979 when Islamic martial law was enacted in Pakistan. As the film unfolds, the woman, Ayesha, has flashbacks to 1947 when Pakistan was separated from India. Each time she has a flashback, you see more of her story but we don’t see its entirety until the end of the movie.
Ayesha is probably 50 with warm, bright, loving eyes. She cares for her son and teaches Islam to young girls in her town. We see her celebrating the wedding of a friend’s daughter and helping another friend make clothes for the other young women in town.
Then two men come into town to spread the word about Islamic law and to get young men to “fight for Pakistan”. Her son joins these men and this drives a wedge between Ayesha and her son.
I won’t spoil this film for you but suffice it to say that in 1947 and in 1979 women are the currency of hatred.
See it.
I don’t, however, want you to see this and spend time pointing fingers at Islamic “extremists” or the Sikhs who would murder their women before “handing them over” to Muslims. I prefer to see this film as a mirror.
I am still crying about this movie. Yes, I’m grieved at the story that this film tells. I grieve for the women in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and everywhere else where women aren’t at the table when decisions are made about the law of the land.
But what grieves me more is that women still are mostly exluded from that table here in the United States. You doubt me? We have a lot of politicians who have no qualms with making a law about women’s health without consulting women. Whether you are pro or anti choice, doesn’t it strike you that there are no women in the picture as Bush signs a law that affects only women?
It’s not only Bush either. Take a look at your city council, Governor’s office, your state legislatures, our Congress, the slate of presidential candidates before us.
The same can be said for people of color, and I don’t mean only African-Americans.
It’s easy for me to get discouraged and I don’t mean for you to be discouraged by reading this. I find hope in manyplaces and people.
Vote.
I am writing because I want my niece, when she’s 50, to see a movie about how we turned our world around by coming to the table. I want to her to see that women are the currency of change in 2004.
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