Greg has yet another test on Monday so we made going to see "Taken" a reward for doing a lot of studying yesterday. We went to the 10:10 p.m. showing, and now that I've actually seen it I can give you my thoughts--one of which is that whoever rated this movie PG-13 might want to consider a new career. While some of the plot was pretty unbelievable, and overall I don't think it will making an appearance on my "favorite movies" list, there were a number of things I really liked about Taken. Like I mentioned in my last post, anytime a heavily promoted movie brings up the issue of sex trafficking, I'm hopeful that at least some of the viewers will walk away with a new sense of awareness. One of the major things I really liked about the film was its setting in Paris, as opposed to a third-world vacation spot. Trafficking happens in every country, and likely every major city in the world. To set a kidnapping and sophisticated sex slavery ring in a place like France, as opposed to a third-world country better "known" for sex trafficking, ups the reality factor that this happens everywhere.
I liked that by positioning the film around a father's love for his daughter, sex trafficking and forced prostitution becomes infinitely more personal. This happens every day, to someone's daughter, sister, friend. And that should matter to us.
Another thing I liked was the way the movie portrayed how many people are involved in the sex trade. There are the "setters," the sellers, the buyers, the police. It's a sophisticated chain, with some big players--and some big bucks--in the system. The fact that this is a multibillion dollar business means that there is a LOT of demand, and it's coming from some of the wealthiest countries on earth. Including our own. I liked the fact that Liam Neeson doesn't stop with just the sellers running the ring, but also goes after those who are really behind it: the buyers.
It's clear that to traffickers, innocent, beautiful human beings are reduced to dollar signs and business pawns. How did we get to the point that this goes on every day, all over the world, with little to no retribution--and what are we going to do about it now?
2 comments:
i'm glad you were able to catch this movie this past weekend. i really liked your thoughts on it as well. i hadn't really taken in all of the things you mentioned when i first watched it, but now that you mentioned them, i see it and am glad you brought it up.
thank you for the work that you are doing with this blog and helping to make people more aware of what is going on in the world of human trafficking and sex slavery.
Thanks for reading, Funks, and for the comment. It's so encouraging to me to know that people are out there, becoming more aware, and caring about this cause like I do. I hope that you will keep coming back to continue to conversation with me!
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