Wednesday, October 15, 2003

Magdalene Sisters

The Magadalene Sisters is a sad, terrible tale based on facts. Irish girls and young women assumed to be "sinners" because they were raped, sexually active or even suspected of being so, were sent to work in laundries run by nuns and the Irish government. These laundries were in existence until the 1990's when the last one was closed.

The film does not show even one sympathetic nun - and this is too bad because there had to have been at least one. But this is two-hour story-telling, so we do not see anything redeeming about the situation except the courage of a few girls to escape and make lives of their own. You can "google.com" this topic or even Magdalenes and find out more information.

To be noted is that some religious communities have admitted and apologized for their role in this injustice. I don't know about the Irish government or the hospitals who benefited from this form of slave labor. It's hard to imagine that very many people would even want to see such a film. On the other hand, once injustices are exposed and owned up to, there is a stronger chance they will not be repeated.

(Please note that this writer does not assume these victims to be "sinners" - this was the what the Irish government, Irish Catholic Church and even the girls' families believed them to be....)

 

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