Those seeking torture porn will be very disappointed.

Friday, 09. 4. 2009  –  By Janice  –  13 Comments

Torture Porn?

One of the most aggravating things I have heard while promoting the film The Stoning of Soraya M. this summer is that it is “torture porn.” Given that there is nothing pornographic about the film, the fact that this term has been used so much in reference to it really, really annoys me.

At a recent dinner with many human rights activists concerned with the Middle East I got into a conversation with a married couple.  When my involvement with the film came up, the woman made an expression as though she had just eaten a rotten lemon. “I don’t like that film” she said. The next thing out of my mouth was to ask her if she had seen it. I was not at all surprised when she said she had not. I was surprised, however, when she proceeded to cite all the reasons she disliked a film she had not seen. Her husband pointed out that many have referred to the film as “torture porn.” When I pressed him to explain exactly what is meant by that term, he not only compared The Stoning of Soraya M. to The Passion of the Christ (a horrible comparison), he stated that a woman is tortured in the film and that some people are aroused by such violence.

"Torture porn" scene in The Stoning of Soraya M.

So not only are men responsible for perpetrating such gross crimes against women, the perverted tendencies of what I assume to be a small minority of men with torture fetishes is used as an excuse not to allow Soraya’s story to be told.  It is ironic to me that the victim being a woman rather than a man should discourage so many from watching this wonderful film. Once again, Soraya faces injustice because of her gender.

I have to say, I also find it ironic and disturbing that so many feel the need to compare this film to The Passion of the Christ. The film that Robert Ebert famously referred to as the most violent movie he had ever seen, it remains the highest grossing non-English film in the U.S. I remember the zealous response from Christians when the film was released.

As a woman I have a similar zeal for Soraya’s story.

The flogging of Jesus alone in The Passion took ten minutes. This is as long as the entire stoning scene in Soraya, not very satisfying for those who are watching it for sexual arousal.

Consider another Mel Gibson film, Braveheart, perhaps the most violent movie I have ever seen (I have not seen The Passion). Although Mel Gibson is tortured and abused while wearing short kilts and exposing his muscular chest, I don’t recall every hearing the film referred to as torture porn. I also don’t recall hearing about people refusing to watch certain scenes due to violence the way I have seen people refusing the watch the stoning scene in The Stoning of Soraya M.

During one screening of the film I watched with disappointment as two viewers promptly got up and walked out of the room as soon as Soraya was lowered into the ground for the stoning. Watching the rest of us from outside the room, they commented on being too sensitive and affected by such “explicit violence,” as though the rest of us were just watching for the pornographic appeal. I have rarely, if ever, seen people walk out other violent movies.

Those who refuse to watch the movie or scenes from the movie should really ask themselves why they are so uncomfortable viewing this type of violence, particularly with an actual crime is being depicted. Those so concerned about "torture porn" should go after the violent and often illegal pornography found readily online and allow those of us concerned with telling the true story of injustice do our job a bit easier.

Tell your representatives to help prevent child marriage

Tuesday, 09. 1. 2009  –  By Janice  –  2 Comments

An 11-year-old being married off to a grown man.

In The Stoning of Soraya M., Soraya's evil husband Ali plots to have her killed to free him to marry a 14-year-old girl. Ali has not ever even spoken to the young girl that he desires, but instead assumes he will be able to strike an arrangement with the girl's father to marry her.

While the story takes place in the 1980s, young girls continue to be forced into marriages with men often twice their age all over the world. The above picture, recepient of the UNICEF 2007 Photo of the Year award, is of an eleven-year-old girl at her wedding, the man on her left is her new husband.

According to CARE.org 60 million girls around the world are married before the age of 17 — many to men twice their age or older.

These young brides are:

• More likely to die during childbirth. Girls under the age of 15 are five times more likely to die during childbirth than a woman in her 20s.
• More likely to live in poverty. Child brides usually drop out of school, thus limiting their economic opportunities for the rest of their lives.
• Are twice as likely to experience domestic violence.
• Are more vulnerable to illnesses such as HIV.

Ask your representatives to co-sponsor the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act of 2009.

This legislation will:

• Scale up proven approaches and programs to end child marriage
• Require the development of a comprehensive strategy to prevent child marriage and empower young girls
• Urge countries to uphold and enforce existing anti-child marriage laws
• Recognize child marriage as a human rights violation
• Require the Department of State to address child marriage in its annual Human Rights Reports.

Don't wait! Girls around the world need your support. Contacts your reps today.

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