I just finished watching the movie Born Into Brothels and am at a loss for words. “To whom much is given – much is required.” I have been given too much – I am simply at a loss.
The movie follows a photojournalist who lives in the red light district of Calcutta – and inadvertently falls in love with a group of sex workers’ children and begins teaching them photography. The documentary shows life in the ghetto through their eyes. With no hope – all the female children will begin servicing the men soon.
This stuff gets under my skin in a way I just feel unable to bear. Who am I to have it so good?
You know what I was stressed out about today? Making sure I could get an appointment to get my eyebrows waxed. No joke.
That’s what I worry about while children as young as five and six have their bodies sold for $0.25.
Anyways.. I recommend this movie – I think it’s really important. Few movies are important – but this is one of them.
20 Responses to “Born Into Brothels”
Twitter: EstherCrawford
- @jeffreine that bridge gives me chills
- @jeffreine yep! and watched tv ... I'm pretty sure every night should end like that
- @soccerhaus it was pretty hilarious... then another couple came in and started making out too.. it never ended
January 27th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Esther, I posted last night my thoughts about the Palestinian elections. And I’d love to get your feedback. Thanks!
January 26th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
Well, Hamas won in a landslide. Interesting that you caught on to the significance so much earlier than, say, the mainstream American media. Your thoughts?
January 25th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
wow. thats hardcore and gutwrenching.
January 25th, 2006 at 2:50 pm
These references to me buried in comments… Um, your last entry here is even older than TheTheologiansCafe’s quitting time!
January 23rd, 2006 at 12:08 am
ryc ~ “hi” has been said, and a tentative (VERY tentative) time for catching up sort of, kind of penciled in. Good job on exhausting the boy! ;-)
January 21st, 2006 at 3:12 pm
I will check it out….
January 21st, 2006 at 1:46 pm
so mny of my friends have seen that movie. i get very upset and i feel helpless in doing anything. i have a friend in cambodia who deals with this issue. i can barely read his reports. my daughter who is turning 6. Dear Lord protect our little girls and curse those who prey upon them with veneral diseases that make their secondary sex organs fall off. thanks for bringing this movie to all those that read your posts. good job.
January 20th, 2006 at 3:08 pm
Please, please let me know if you want ways to make a difference! Tiny Stars is a ministry that fights commercial sexual exploitation of children. There are over 500,000 sex slaves here in the U.S. and 11 million around the World. You could get your campus group involved in training/fundraising….the possibilities are endless! ~April
January 19th, 2006 at 11:22 am
that movie is beautiful and horrible. it’s a good thing to watch when you need to remember that our world is not flat and there’s a lot more going on besides rush hour, sales, cappucino & prime time tv. :(
January 19th, 2006 at 10:16 am
Man …. .I def. need to check it out. :(
January 18th, 2006 at 10:34 pm
I want to see that. I also recently saw “Human Trafficking” with Mira Sorvino. Hard to watch, absolutely heartbreaking. But you have to know it really happens more often than we think.
January 18th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
We just had a missionary from Eurasia last Sunday night discussing this topic. It was one of the few sunday nights I was thrilled to be at church. I will hunt the movie down. Thanks for the recommendation!
January 18th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
I saw it when it came out in the theater. It was very moving. I think more people should see this movie.
January 18th, 2006 at 9:29 am
There’s a section of the movie 13 Conversations About One Thing entitled “Fuck Guilt.”
They mean that ironically, of course.
Sometimes I feel like our civilization is awfully ripe for an ice age.
(Michael Stipe was the film’s executive producer.)
January 18th, 2006 at 6:31 am
ugh, yeah.
I watched the new Lifetime movie, “Human Trafficking” awhile back. (Not a lifetime fan, but this 4 hour piece was really talked up). I couldn’t sleep soundly for days… which even made me feel guilty because I could eventually SLEEP. I know guilt isn’t right or “Godly”…I get enough of that… but neither is this entire industry. I can’t fathom why I’ve been chosen to be born here and not into a more vulnerable situation where my life choices were severely limited… I just dont know :(
January 18th, 2006 at 4:01 am
there’s a dateline nbc show from a year (2 years) back that was called “children for sale”…….. its a good watch, if you can get your hands on it… disturbing, but good. i have yet to get “born into brothels”… school’s starting again, so movie indulgence gets to be back-burner-ed.
“to whom much is given, much is required…” you’ve been blessed in many ways that those kids have not been… i used to tell my kids in the two clubs that i did at school that the things that challenged us the most, disturbed us the most, drew us to tears the most–there’s a reason for that… we were given that reaction because God wants us to do something about it… if he didn’t, he would’ve made us not care.
January 18th, 2006 at 3:19 am
I’ve been meaning to rent/borrow that movie for a while, thanks for the recommendation…
January 18th, 2006 at 3:14 am
We have a musician friend who wrote a very powerful song about this subject. The band is Tremolo: song, Baby Blue. I think it’s on iTunes but if not, his website is Tremolomusic.net. He is very active in promoting organizations that help these kids. I think 50% of the profit from his latest album is being donated to humanitarian aid organizations.
I’m with Sheryl though. I haven’t worked up the nerve to watch that video yet.
January 18th, 2006 at 2:06 am
i keep walking by that movie at the video store and just cannot bring myself to watch it. that whole subject infuriates, saddens, sickens, and paralyzes me. i feel utterly helpless. those are the facts of life that leave me empty… i know what Christ did and is doing in the world, but how can these girls, and so many other children in the sex-trade INDUSTRY, be helped and delivered? how can this evil be eradicated? having young girls myself stops me from watching it. i can’t even go there. i have friends who know of people who minister and help girls in these situations and in areas of the world like that. i really need to support people like that who are sacrificing their lives to help these young people. auggh esther, thanks for the shot in the arm. always good. :-)
hey, i asked nick this question, but i’ll ask you also. do you know how to put the quicktime videos on a xanga blog? i want to post some (protected) posts for my husband of me and the girls. it’s faster for him to access my blog than to email him anything like that. thanks!
January 18th, 2006 at 1:39 am
Thanks for telling us about this film I can relate to all your feelings . There is a book I think you would really like, but it is hard to find right now. http://www.abbamoses.com/mothergav.html
http://www.oramaworld.com/product_info.php/cPath/8000_8100_9101/products_id/80001