Film Review: Water
10 September 2013
Water
1. With Specific examples from the film, show different ways in which widows are ostracized and oppressed. The film depicts widows being oppressed in a number of ways. As soon as a woman’s husband dies she was given three extremely limited and oppressive options; she could marry her husband’s younger brother, she could burn to death alongside her husband’s remains, or she could live in self-denial with other widows. If they choose life then their hair is shaved off, they must dress in all white saris instead of the vibrant colors of other “clean” women, they are not allowed to wear jewelry, and they are forced to live a life of solitude in a widow house secluded from the rest of the community. Widows were also shown to suffer much ostracism throughout the film. For example, when Kalyani accidently bumped into a woman in the marketplace they woman is outraged and yells “You’ve polluted me; I’ll have to bathe again!” This is because widows were seen as “unclean” and anything or anyone they came into contact with could contract this uncleanliness. Another example of the ostracism of widows is portrayed in a wedding scene when Shakuntula is nearby and warned not to let her shadow touch the bride. As if even the shadow of a widow could curse a bride and her marriage.
2. List factors of custom, law, religious doctrine and social/economic factors presented in the film that cause their ostracism When the British colonized India and attempted to reform their social system they outlawed the burning of widows. This in a way backfired because it caused an increase in the number of widows cast out of their communities and into widow houses. While they may have their lives it will never be the same as it was. So this law only led to increased shunning of these poor husbandless women. A custom that led to the ostracism of the widows is the shaving of their heads. Losing their hair was seen as a way of desexualizing them and almost
Water
1. With Specific examples from the film, show different ways in which widows are ostracized and oppressed. The film depicts widows being oppressed in a number of ways. As soon as a woman’s husband dies she was given three extremely limited and oppressive options; she could marry her husband’s younger brother, she could burn to death alongside her husband’s remains, or she could live in self-denial with other widows. If they choose life then their hair is shaved off, they must dress in all white saris instead of the vibrant colors of other “clean” women, they are not allowed to wear jewelry, and they are forced to live a life of solitude in a widow house secluded from the rest of the community. Widows were also shown to suffer much ostracism throughout the film. For example, when Kalyani accidently bumped into a woman in the marketplace they woman is outraged and yells “You’ve polluted me; I’ll have to bathe again!” This is because widows were seen as “unclean” and anything or anyone they came into contact with could contract this uncleanliness. Another example of the ostracism of widows is portrayed in a wedding scene when Shakuntula is nearby and warned not to let her shadow touch the bride. As if even the shadow of a widow could curse a bride and her marriage.
2. List factors of custom, law, religious doctrine and social/economic factors presented in the film that cause their ostracism When the British colonized India and attempted to reform their social system they outlawed the burning of widows. This in a way backfired because it caused an increase in the number of widows cast out of their communities and into widow houses. While they may have their lives it will never be the same as it was. So this law only led to increased shunning of these poor husbandless women. A custom that led to the ostracism of the widows is the shaving of their heads. Losing their hair was seen as a way of desexualizing them and almost