Tuesday, February 22, 2011

What Would You Do?



Last night i watched a movie from start to finish.. Id seen it before but only from halfway. Watching it in its entirety got my brain ticking. It made me ask myself many questions. I felt compelled to share them with my flat mate but restrained myself as i really dont think he is the right person to be discussing them with lol.

The movie was "Blindness" Made in 2008, starring Julianne Moore, Danny Glover & Mark Ruffalo.

**TOTAL SPOILER ALERT AHEAD**
If you havent seen it and dont want to know what happens, dont click "read more"

The movie is an adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author Jose Saramago's compelling story of humanity in the grip of an epidemic of mysterious blindness.
It is a really good movie, i highly reccommend it.

This is not a movie review but a look at the issues and situations which occur.


For those that have seen the movie and those that havent but want to keep reading, let me refresh your memory and outline the basics of the movie.

A city is ravaged by an epidemic of instant "white blindness". Those first afflicted are quarantined by the authorities in an abandoned mental hospital where the newly created "society of the blind" quickly breaks down. Criminals and the physically powerful prey upon the weak, hoarding the meager food rations and committing horrific acts. There is however one eyewitness to the nightmare. A woman whose sight is unaffected by the plague follows her afflicted husband to quarantine. There, keeping her sight a secret, she guides seven strangers who have become, in essence, a family. She leads them out of quarantine and onto the ravaged streets of the city, which has seen all vestiges of civilization crumble. Written by Festival de Cannes' Editor


Here is also a trailer to give you a bit more idea ....


OK so now you know what im on about yeah?
Kinda sorta?
Awesome.

So watching it, these questions come up.. what would i do? How would i react? Would i survive? Would i be a hero?

The worst scene in the whole movie, is when the women are traded for food. One group is controlling the food for 3 wards in this quarantine hospital/jail. First they ask everyone to surrender their jewellery and money in exchange for food. When there is no more goods to swap they tell the blind people, they want the women to enjoy, in exchange for food. Mind you, the people in control, are also blind.

This is when the questions begin.

If you were a man in this situation, would you coerce the women to go freely? Would you make them go forcefully? This is life and death, you havent eaten for days... Would your morals tell you that you should starve as opposed to allowing another human to be sexually abused just so you can get a meal?

The group decides to see if any women want to volunteer. One women says "I will go", the one person that can see, Julianne Moore, she says "I will go with her".. one by one all the women agree. they will sacrifice themselves so everyone can eat. two of the women have their husbands there. Their husbands find this decision hard to swallow, but they all know, it is survival.

Would i go of my own accord in this situation? YES. Giving my body to a stranger is nothing new to me. Has being a sex worker for 11yrs given me some kind super powers? NO, but it has given me the ability to take my mind somewhere else when it needs to. The need doesnt come along very often but when it does, instinct and survival switch on in force.

The women all go, silently they walk to this group of animals, where they are subjected to rape of all kinds. One lady is not pleasing the man. He calls her a starfish. Wtf is she supposed to do??moan and buck like a pornstar. Because of her lack of interest he beats her. So badly that.. she dies. The ladies carry her back to their ward. they say no words. they close her eyes and wash the blood and filth of her poor body.

Everybody eats that day.

That brought me then to the subject of rape. A man who is a rapist, gets off on the power trip. They get off on knowing that they are taking what is not theirs without consent, the more you cry and scream, the more they enjoy it. So say, in the god awful event that i am ever in a rape situation, im not going to cry and beg.. no, im going to fuck with their head and put on the best god dam porn star type show they have ever seen.
Will me "having a good time" put the rapist off his game?

What would you do if you were in a situation where there was 3 women. You and two other women you knew. In a life or death situation and one of you had to go with the abuser and have sex, to spare the other two. What would you do? Would you go? Would you insist on the 3 of you staying together? Would you wait for one of the other women to volunteer? Me, i would volunteer straight away. not because i wana be a hero, but because i think im better emotionally capable of handling that kind of situation than any other woman i know (outside of the adult industry). I have gone thru crazy bad situations and i have ALWAYS bounced back! I have this crazy way of being able to have bad experiences and not let them rub off on me, Sure they happened, i acknowledge that, but i dont linger on them, i dont think about them in a unhealthy way.. it happened, im still alive, life is good, ok :) !!

There were alot more things in this movie that made me question my own morals.. but as this is turning out to be an essay i better cut it off here...

But ask yourself.. what would you do? How far would you go to eat? Would you cut off am arm? Sell your soul? How would you survive? Would you ever be the same again....?

I hope and pray never to be in any kind of situation like these.. never.. and i pray no-one i know ever has to go thru that either...but if it does, i am prepared...

P.s If you think i am being flippant or not right in discussing matters such as these, please, go back thru my blog entries and you will see that i dont take things like this lightly and i have been thru some pretty shocking experiences.... im not an expert on this subject but lets just say, im not a stranger to it either..

17 comments:

  1. I guess no one really knows how they would react in situations like this. I think I would rather die...

    ReplyDelete
  2. you would rather die?
    wow
    I think living is worth fighting for... i think id do anything to survive and to protect those i love...

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not so much a comment about this post as it is the blog as a whole. Great site. Good read. Love the honesty.

    I am now following you. Please visit my site at your convenience. Thanks!

    http://funnysinglefather.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank you Dean x x I will check your blog out :) Hope you enjoy my future ramblings lol

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kill the would be rapists and eat them? Or atleast go out fighting. I'm guessing the writers rule out that possiblity. That's one of the things I don't like about these stories, usually - the author of it will try and force the emotional trauma of it by cutting out any other possiblity but the awful one.

    But in the end, really this solves nothing - you'll be hungry again tomorrow and those guys still hold the resources. Sacrificing the women is merely short term strategy. Are we talking so starved weve lost strategic thought? And what happens even when those guys run out of food - they'll just kill the weak people and eat them - then eat each other, then the last canibal standing dies.

    I mean really, the situation is at a dead end in the long term anyway.

    Also survival is relative. Really just because your heart keeps beating, doesn't mean your alive.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Very interesting post. I've never seen the movie, but movies like that always make me wonder what I would do. I have no idea. But I hope I got you with me to get us some food :) Funny, I was just about to tell you I need a way to get email updates when you post, and there it is, right underneath this box, subscribe by email. Awesome. Love your blog, baby. Love it. Thoughtful, well written, and sexy all at the same time.

    As for the rapists, I've always thought the chances of surviving got better if the person acted as if they enjoyed it. You know, who would tell if they were having a good time? But now I wonder if that does fuck with the rapists head, if that doesn't lessen the chances of survival. Who knows.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for being so open about many personal issues, it is refreshing to see young women who are so honest about their lives and loves. I wish I could be that transparent, may be its the era in which we a born that decides our level of comfort in these matters. Keep posting, it will inspire others.
    Kind regards,
    Robert J

    ReplyDelete
  8. Darknoon, very good points. Thank you for reading :) The main character does kill the ring leader and it outbreaks war.. but regardless, at that point they are free, so it wasnt worth death after all.. argh.. that movie drove me insane! I cant stop thinking about it lol.

    Justus x x thank you for stopping by! OMG I got something in the mail this week! It is already on my wall, near my bed, in full perve view (yes i am THAT sad lol) I definitely recommend the movie man.. it was out there

    Robert J i dont think its about being transparent, i think its a matter of just being me and blahhin on alot of crap lol. I will keep posting, regardless of if people are still reading :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. It is a great film and really made me think about surviving

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thanks for commenting GeoffR :) Even the smaller issues it deals with, leave u asking, "what would i do? would i let my husband fuck another girl and be ok with it.. even tho i walk in on them?".. tough situations...

    ReplyDelete
  11. I wouldn't be surprise if the entire movie was in darkness with voices.

    ReplyDelete
  12. nice post huntress I actually finished the vid really interesting but also disturbing..will watch these film


    please comment on my post please
    http://fromwalatookay.blogspot.com/2011/03/my-sons-dreaming-of-having-our-own.html#idc-container

    ReplyDelete
  13. Julianne Moore....hmmm, world-class actress with plenty of talents. She has always been well-prepared in presenting her every character. She makes the movie worhwhile to the goers.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love Julian Moore, I think she is superb & Mark Ruffalo was just nominated for an Oscar, right? I am going to watch this movie this weekend, thanks....I love what you can discover through a fellow blogger :)

    ReplyDelete
  15. Julianne Moore is great, i love her!

    Jenina, i hope you enjoy the movie and i hope i havent spoilt it for you lol x x

    ReplyDelete
  16. Oh Huntress, your posts disturb, move, sadden, and give me hope for humanity all at once! Love it ;)

    I heart Julianne Moore too but I can't watch movies like that.. gonna avoid this one!

    ReplyDelete
  17. chwenny, thanks for reading xx hard topic to cover, but an interesting one at the same time. It is a good movie.. but yes it is a little full on.. i wouldnt watch it if i were having a sad day lol xxx

    ReplyDelete