We've had quite a bit of rain over the last couple of weeks, but that's not what this post is about. Water (by Deepa Mehta) is the name of the film Bruce and I watched (on DVD) yesterday afternoon. It's an interesting film but disturbing because it's about what is apparently a current practice. And yes, it's once again about India.
According to Hindu scripture, a woman has three choices when her husband dies: marry her husband's younger brother, if his family agrees; kill herself on his funeral pyre; or live a chaste life in solitude with other widows.
This film's dateline is 1938, but a law that was passed around that time permitting a widow to remarry the man of her choice, rather than her brother-in-law, was not popular then and, according to the closing credits of the film, still isn't. A 2001 Census found over 34 million widows living in little ashrams with other widows. I'll have to see what else I can find out about this religious ruling (for instance, nothing is said about women with children, but I'm presuming that only childless widows were forced to retreat from society in this way, since none of the women in the film had children).
What was really disturbing about this practice is that Chuyia, whose marriage and subsequent widowhood begins this film, was only eight. Eight!! And according to an article I read, her husband was 50. Another girl at the ashram was married at nine, and an old woman, who kept talking about the sweets from her wedding, was apparently only seven at the time. So was it only very young widows who were sent to live in isolation? The film didn't make that clear, which is why I want to do some research.
Perhaps in years gone past, when human lifespan was much shorter, it made sense for for people to be married at a young age, but these girls weren't even teenagers and the men they were married to were apparently much older. And the practice of ostracizing young widows seems to be one of those religious manadates with a cultural and historical basis - if women were married off at such a young age and weren't educated, they were completely dependent on their husbands. If their husbands died, it probably made economic sense for them to be sent away instead of being a financial burden on their or their husbands' families. That is what troubles me so much - it sounds like the way things were in the days of Jane Austen, where women were so dependent on their father and on making a good marriage, but in India it is a religious commandment, which makes it so much more difficult for things to change. The fact that a law was passed but hasn't changed things much seventy years later angers me. I'm sure the people who believe in this would have a litany of facts to defend the practice, primarily because it's based in Hindu scripture, but that is exactly what upsets me - so much of religion is based on what was cultural practice at that time, but a lot of those practices were wrong or based on falsehoods and harmed people, primarily women and children, yet people cling to them.
And these widows are essentially penniless, begging for money or, in once case in this film, being forced into prostitution by an older woman who seems to be in charge. So even here, in this house, there is exploitation. So much for being sent away to live a chaste life.
If the measure of a film lies in how it educates and affects the viewer, then this is definitely a good film. The cast was a good one, the music (again by A.R. Rahman) fitted the film and the scenes were well-shot. A way of life completely unknown to me has been unveiled, and I want to learn more. But this was a moving film in an unhappy, unsettling way, so if you're looking for something uplifting, I'd recommend Slumdog Millionaire over this. At least that one had a happy ending. I guess I'm like Mummy in that way - the world has enough woes (which I read about every single day because of all the newspapers and articles I scan each day for work), and I'd rather watch films to escape from the real world for a while. (Not to mention the fact that every time I think about India's caste system, I become angry and frustrated because it's still thriving.) Escapism for a couple of hours is a good thing.
* Postscript: After writing that, I did a search and found this excellent article:
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2006/may2006/wate-m15.shtml
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