Thursday, May 5, 2016

MOVIE WEEKEND: SUFFRAGETTE

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

Today I present quite an interesting movie: Suffragette (2015, Rated PG-13, Available on Video).


If you read my blog post yesterday titled FIVE UNFORGETTABLE SUFFRAGETTE FACTS (click HERE if you missed it), then as you watch Suffragette, you'll see that the main character, Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), serves as an emblem for the early feminists who fought for women's rights.

Maud works in a laundry, where her boss has sexually assaulted her for years. She dutifully turns over her pay to her husband, Sonny (Ben Whishaw). When she joins the suffragettes and is arrested, she becomes a pariah in her neighborhood. Sonny takes Maud back, but later shuts her out of his house, offended because she has disobeyed and embarrassed him.

Sonny Watts: I took you on, Maud. Thought I could straighten you out.
Maud Watts: What if you don't have to?
Sonny Watts: You're a mother, Maud. You are a wife. You're my wife, and that's all you're meant to be.
Maud Watts: What if I can't be that anymore?

Sonny thought he could straighten out Maud? I wonder at that line. Is it because Maud had already lost her virginity, through no wish of her own, but it's still her fault that she didn't come to her wedding night as a virgin? Or is it possible that the boss is her son's father, and Sonny married Maud to save her from bearing a bastard? 

Whatever the case, Maud then endures at Sonny's hands her greatest torment: the loss of her son, three-year-old George. She has no right to money, no right to her child, and no right to vote. How are Maud and other women to effect a change? 

Emmeline Pankhurst: Deeds, not words.

Violent acts become the modus operandi of many of the suffragettes. These acts lead to imprisonment, which leads to hunger strikes, which leads to the horror of force feeding.

Mulligan, as always, gives an excellent performance. She was nominated for the Best Actress BAFTA. Neither the film nor the actors received Academy Award nominations, although we have a favorite of mine, Helena Bonham Carter, in a fine role. Meryl Streep has a small part--but she's Meryl Streep, so she can't help making an impression--as Emmeline Pankhurst.

Suffragette is not a movie for children, but for teens? Absolutely. Watch it with them, and then make sure they know you exercise your right to vote, whether you live in England, Australia, or the U.S., where suffragettes also fought so American women can vote.  

Suffragette earns The Janie Junebug Seal of Highest Approval. I watched this movie on a DVD from Netflix, ever so kindly delivered by my local postal worker.

I'll also write a second post about Emily Davison, a compelling character portrayed in the film who was a real person.

I wish you knowledgeable viewing!


Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

22 comments:

  1. Yes, waiting to see this! Interesting to see the British side of things, too.

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    1. I think you'll like it. It's sad, but uplifting.

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  2. Hi Janie - it's good viewing ... but didn't quite ring true with me - but then I live this side of the pond. It's worth watching though ...

    Cheers Hilary

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    1. I'd love to know why it doesn't ring true with you, Hilary.

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  3. Thanks for the review Janie. Sounds like a 'must watch' and such an important part of history for women. Have a great day!

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  4. Aha! I "spoke" too soon in your former post about this film. Sounds like a good film that did get bypassed by the Academy. I am looking forward to seeing this.

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    1. Compared to movies that were nominated, I don't know if Suffragette was unfairly overlooked. It's hard to tell what it takes to get nominations.

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  5. British suffragettes had to be more militant to achieve anything in that hideously class-bound society.

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    1. I find it interesting that many upper-class women participated in the fight.

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  6. I just ordered it on Netflix!!

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  7. Kids have no idea the lengths some people have gone to procure our freedoms. But they should!

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    1. Agreed. I feel, for some reason, as if our generation knows a great deal more about history than most young people do today.

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  8. sounds like a good movie! I love Netflix...

    Michele at Angels Bark

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    1. May God bless Netflix and the nice mail carrier who brings the red envelopes to me.

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  9. This movie and your wonderful review, might make me renewed my DVD part of Nexflix. I just have streaming right now. Watching movies makes my head hurt. Which has nothing to do with your post.

    cheers, parsnip and thehamish

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    1. Do the movies make your head hurt because they're stupid, or does the light hurt your eyes?

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    2. Some brain problems and Fibromyalgia Fog has made it hard for my comprehension. Plus I get tired. Even book reading is hard. And I use to read at least 3 books at a time. I just am tired.
      And movies sometimes make my head hurt because they are stupid.

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    3. Fibromyalgia sucks. Movies help distract me when I don't feel well.

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