FGM

Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) has become a global ‘law by custom’ practice with the United Nations estimating 130 million women affected currently and an additional 3 million more annually. Other names for FGM include Female circumcision or female cutting, the vocabulary for which sparks debate over just how humane the practice is. It is difficult to pin down precise numbers of practitioners due in part to regional bands and remote locations however it is still practiced in parts of Africa, Asia and in some Arab Countries. According to the Demographic and Health Survey , it is practiced among communities in : Benin, Burkina Faso ( banned in a draft constitution), Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire , Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt ( officially banned however reports indicate 97% participant levels), Ethiopia, Eritrea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya (banned in 1990 but still practiced), Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan(law’s agented infibulations only enacted in 1946, but not enforced), Tanzania, Togo, Uganda. Due to immigration it has become a prevalent topic once again in places such as the United States, France, Australia the UK (banned in 1989) ,Europe (banned in 1982) and other places where it had all but simmered and died out.

The most common type of cuttings, which are typically performed on girls before puberty around age seven, but as young as age three are incision and clitoridectomy (as seen here Infibulation).  The process of having an incision involves the cutting of the clitoris, clitoral prepuce and also making incisions in and around the vaginal wall. Having a clitoridectomy is the partial or total removal of a woman’s clitoris. Less popular procedures include excision, which is the removal of the clitoral hood and may involve parts of the clitoris (depending on the localized community tradition). Infibulation, which is the removal of all parts of the external genitalia (including the clitoris, labia minora and labia majora) then stitching together to narrow the vaginal wall to leave only a small hole, roughly the size of a match stick head for internal fluids to pass through. Any other type of cutting is classified as, unclassified and encompasses the altering, stitching, pricking, scratching and any other manner of mutilation not listed in the aforementioned text.              Infibulation distorts the vaginal wall so drastically that women who have undergone this type of cutting may only give birth via cesarean section, if they later do not undergo another procedure called de-infibulation. De-infibulation is the basic and temporary undoing of the original mutilation and is done by slowly cutting the surgical site on the woman’s wedding night by either her husband or the person who infibulated her the first time. This not only allows for a vaginal birth but also makes intercourse a different experience than for those who have not received it. Alternatively and more common is not receiving de-infibulation where a woman’s vaginal opening remains the size of a match stick and the experience of sex is not unlike rape.  Penetration can easily cause tears, scars, dysparenia, vaginismum, bleeding, shock and infection. The formation of scar tissue at the suture site causes this process to occur over and over again. Re-infibulation is the stitching together of the raw edges after childbirth, simulating the original infibulations act.

FGM is practiced all over the world for many different reasons. Many Islamic cultures have thought in the past or in part for it to be a religious right and duty as a girl passes on in to womanhood, however it is not sanctioned as law in Islam. Another idea behind the cutting is that it is for cleanliness and aesthetic value, ideas that a woman’s clit will grow to be the size of a man’s penile tissue is a popular one-especially in areas of very hot and humid climates. As a woman who grew up in the dirty south, having not received infibulation, I can be the guarantor that this will not make your clit grow abnormally large.   A deterrent against rape and promiscuousness has been offered up as a reason by many as a way of protecting the women. However, with the promise forming and reformation of scar tissue upon voluntary sexual acts is one of the driving forces behind women fighting to claim their own bodies through court cases- challenging long standing traditions and customs in their communities. Families oftentimes fear that not having their child circumcised will handicap her from marriage since men are expected to marry women who have received this treatment, thus this is also a driving factor.  There is another perspective that all children born have both sexual characteristics of one another and that these should be corrected in order to properly assign gender roles in life. The idea being that the clitoris is too closely relative to a penis and should be removed; and in males, the foreskin is remnants of the labia. Providing ‘corrective’ (plastic) surgery for the children in the community is the only way some believe they will live a productive and less sexually confusing life.

Before its outlaw in the 1950’s the United States and Eastern European countries practiced FGM for their belief that is would solve so called mental ailments and fixations such as nymphomania, lesbianism and chronic masturbation: even non sexual disorders such as hysteria and epilepsy have been treated with FGM (sites Thomas O Koso in The Circumcision of Women: A Strategy for Eradication report 1987). Taking a close look at our long record with, A short history of the institutionalization of involuntary sexual mutilation in the United States by George C Dennison, he sites Medical Records from the 1860’s where doctors overwhelmingly suggest all women be candidates for FGM stating "What now will be the chance for recovery for the poor epileptic female with a clitoris?" and offers up this idea as a good solution for out of work doctors to keep them busy.

Media outlets have brought attention to FGM in recent years, through television, music and film. Such was the case in 2008 when the CW’s hit show America’s Next Top Model had a contestant (Fatima Said) who underwent circumcision at age seven, while growing up in Somalia. She began a campaign on air to bring attention to the practice. In 2010 the South African hip-hop group Die Antwoord released their single Evil Boy ( Die Antwoord- Evil Boy) featuring Xhosa rapper (a native speaker of the Bantu languages) Wanga. Spelled out in the verses and depicted in the overwhelmingly phallic nature of the music video, is Wanga’s decry and public voice of disapproval for his own circumcision. The 2004 film Moolade by writer and director Ousmane Sembene tells the dramatic story of a community being torn apart by acts of FGM.

As painful and unsanctioned as this may seem the idea of some of these procedures are not unlike those which are still carried out and supported here in the United States. In a survey stretching from 1999 to 2004 by The National Health and Nutrition Examination, 79% of men report being circumcised. Numbers and reasons vary by region, but ranking high is the traditional and aesthetic properties of having a circumcised son. There is no medical reason anymore to have this procedure performed, however it still in high demand today.  Likened to this school of thought on corrective child surgery are those children born with an incompatible biological gender. As parents we want our children to grow up with all of the opportunities possible, and fear of relational complications and embarrassment drive decisions to have infants surgically assigned a gender when one is not distinctive. Although the methods of going about these (stated: very different procedures) are opposite in their own right, the intention and reason which drives them forward can be suggested to be the same.

Låt den rätte komma in

For the last several years it would seem that the entire U.S has had been infected with Vampire fever. Granted this isn’t as spooky-scary as baby fever or even feline AIDS, but has still made it’s indentation in the form of two glittery teeth marks on the necks of every frail and squeamish teenage girl willing to invite them in. It’s a shame; Blade was so much more bad ass.

With the glow of electric sex and teenage hormones surrounding all the hype, it’s no wonder that I (at first) found the idea of viewing a current vampire flick off putting. Admittedly, I have never seen the series which will remain unnamed. In fact, the only vampire films I have ever experienced are 1994’s Interview with a Vampire and 1998’s Blade. Both excellent, so let’s try not to be pretentious here.

Låt den rätte komma in (Let the Right one In) is a 2008 Norwegian film by John Ajuide Lindguist (who also wrote the novel by the same name) and director Thomas Aflreadson. Please don’t watch it in English; you’ll barely notice the Swedish as you go along. It stars Kare Hendenbrant, who plays Oskar. We meet him as a twelve year old boy who is very much trying to establish his identity in a life of full of absentee parents and void of supervision and otherwise care. He is on the cusp of who is going be. Soon we are introduced to Eli (also played out in a twelve year old) characterized by Lina Leandersson, a headstrong siren type that both saves and dooms her new building mate. Set in a small community of Blackenberg in Stockholm in the 50’s, the films universe consists of those would be deceived, like the unsuspecting character Jocke (Mikel Rahm), those who would be picked off like Virginia (Ika Nora) and those would be sacrificially devoted, such as Eli’s caretaker Håken (Per Ragner).

We begin to get a sense of Håken’s full devotion of Eli, with incomprehensible grace-like-love when we review the death of their first victim. He subdues a man in the woods using a halothane device (continuity issue: halothane is a general anesthetic and immediately causes a short term loss of consciousness. In this scene the victim struggles to retain consciousness after being gassed.) However, much like this and several other film gaffs’ not everything goes smoothly and their plan beings to become unhinged.  After Håken’s fate is sealed Eli must find another way to survive and begins to groom Oskar as a new front man to face the world. He is both fascinated and only a little hesitant to commit himself in becoming part of Eli.

There are several striking scenes in this picture. One of which is after an undressed Eli climbs in to Oskar’s bed he asks “Do I have a chance with you?”  Eli’s replies “Can’t we just be like this?” Leaving a note the next day which reads

“TO FLEE IS LIFE, TO LINGER- DEATH. – Your Eli”.

 Every time I am in this situation, I feel the exact same way. Theirs is the beginning of a romance, but Eli tries to tell Oskar that things are not what they appear to be. Throughout the movie it is never directly stated, however questioned several times is Eli’s sexuality. While Eli is changing there is a two second shot of the pelvic region where a scar is revealed to us.  Eli is obviously a male in this film; the observer can be thrown off by small physical features brought on by the halting his age. Although we are never keyed in to how old he is exactly, Eli’s castration scar would date him much older than his appearance.

The original writings of Let the Right one In contains much more on this subject and the full expression of Oskar and Eli’s attraction to each other. Although this film is only three years old the United States has already placed guardianship of Låt den rätte komma in Hollywood itself and created a bastardized, bleached and unnecessary remake. We call his version Let me in.



Writer John Ajuide Lindguist

Double entendre!

The 2008 flick Shortbus by ThinkFilms and director John Cameron Mitchell is a deconstruction and total reversal of the American storyboard/storytelling experience.  Mitchell began casting for this film then built his and tailored his script around the chemistry of his actors. Through the hard work and hashing out of the original screenplay during workshops they altered the destination, and Mitchell was able to leave us at place no one anticipated getting off at.

Many obstacles were laid out before the final shooting of Shortbus and the eventual relises at Sundance in 2006. Including the loss of two financial backers and two main actors pulling out. Sook-Yin Lee (who plays Sophia) is a prominent air anchor in Canada and due to the racy nature of the film, had her job threatened if she continued working on the project. She did, the community came to her defense and film proceeded.

We begin entering the lives of our paramour’s midst the throws of passion and hatred, in New York.  Here is where we first experience Rob (Raphael Barker) and Sophia (Lee), our married couple; The Jamie’s (Paul Dawson and PJ DeBoy) our homosexual couple ; Severin (Lindsay Beamish) our dominatrix and Caleb ( Peter Stickler ) the cognitive narrator/ stalker for all intensive purposes.  Each of these people needs something. They are equally unfulfilled in some disproportionate way, balancing together on the Shortbus itself. As is the case often in life what one person lacks, another had fine attributes in the way of. Sophia has never had an orgasm. Rob can’t get off since he can’t give her one. He put it best when he said, in theoretical discussion about his wife’s client (located the deleted scenes)”A man knows when his lover doesn’t cum!” he knows…

Some of our character’s may view their deficiency’s as purely psychological, however as we get to know then better we get to see the total person perspective and the fact that it is a physical uncertainty that belongs to them as well. The Jamie’s consult a couple’s counselor (with a focus on sex therapy) when the idea opening up the relationship occurs. This is where they meet Sophia. All of our characters come to a head while arriving at underground salon “for the gifted and challenged” as told by the Maitre d' and proprietor Justin Bond (who plays himself). Some of the scenes in the underground are not unlike that of the reel-to-reel footage of Ken Kesey’s journey and is indeed a Magical Trip of its own. This is also where we meet members of the house band, including Bitch, whose been known to wonder in to Al’s bar once or twice.  

Defy the logic of your sex laws. Take this movie in without considering it as such or comparing it to that of the pornography industry.  The mechanics of having real sex on camera has a lot of work involved, including HIV and STD testing for all of the actors/ ‘sextras’ ( don’t worry if you don’t know what that is, by the time you board the Shortbus you will) and locating a condom that doesn’t look like they are wearing one. Do yourself a favor and watch the deleted scenes, they are not only hilarious but include scratched subplot.

Shortbus has an abundance of sexual content in it (including a ten minute opening) so my advice is to watch this alone or with someone you love..physically.



Director John Cameron Mitchell, amongst the world he created.



Welcome to your new addiction

AGE/SEX/LOCATION



*Documentary: intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record.

*Mock: to use ridicule or derision.

Having a view from a lens, your eyes or your pen will always be askewer. No matter how just and earnest you attempt to define the total perspective.

Age/Sex/Location is a mockumentary from the minds of Kentucky's own Jeremy Midkiff and GINMAY native Jonathan Harlan Moore - which captures the new and unlikely friendship of Ova Reynolds (Moore), who raises cock-fighting roosters, and Rob Bronson (Midkiff), who owns a pyramid scheme.

You may recognize Midkiff from the band Big Fresh, from the public library or perhaps on a cool fall night on the outskirts on Triangle Park peddling his homely fresh beads to those who would be adorned by them.

Jonathan Harlan Moore is a native of GINMAY Kentucky and currently resided in a white hot museum in Hotlanta, moving down there in this vast year of our Lord, two thousand and eleven. He enjoys animation, juice fasts, pistol whipping and Elvis yoga.

*Warning: Some or all of this information may have been found on Wikipedia.

I recently caught up with Rob on one of his weekend trips to the Haggling Hag peddlers mall n' search Co. in search of some new jewels to spin.

Interview to follow. But for now, just enjoy the show...

Moolaade

In the words of Rodger Ebert “ Sometimes I seek the right words and I despaired.” No other line rings more true than such when relating to the subject matter for the 2004 film, Moolaade. Brougt to light by Ousmane Sembene, a man who is critically referred to as the father of African film and Co-ventured by eight other countries, it would be easy to confuse this piece with a light hearted flick at first glance. The acoustics bend the viewer’s ear towards the sounds of Burkina Faso and bring our eyes to the brightly colored scenery of the small village where Sembene searched diligently for months to find.

Moolaade is a film about protection, change, desire and tradition. It is about the “Purification” ritual within this community in Africa. A pyramid power struggle rises up in the community between the men and women, family units and elders. This only prolongs the terrifying and potentially lethal question and process looking over the heads over those who would seek solace to avoid it.

Colle (Fatoumata Coulibaly) is the second wife of twice as many, wed to a powerful and highly respected man. She had refused to involve their own daughter in the purification which had long since rendered her undesirable and unsuitable to wed. The status of being taboo jeopardizes Amsatou’s (Salimata Traore), engagement to a hep and modernized man who is set to inherit the highest standing in the village. She turns her back on tradition, resists the cohesion of the community, her family- even endures a public beating by her husband. She takes it all to spare these young girls from the time honored practice of genital cutting. She is stubborn. She is strong. She is the superhero. Adorned on Colle’s chin is a tattoo which extends from her inner gum to the bottom of her chin. She is a rare woman, and none other sports this.

When it becomes time for another group of girls to become purified and cut, six of them escape. Knowing her history with the process four flee to Collie’s residence and beg for refuge. She grants them Moolaade, a protective spell which can not be undone nor denied until she herself does the taking back. The power struggle soon follows as word spreads she has granted these girls protection and is keeping them from the cutting ceremony. The elders, in their infinite wisdom, send out an order that all radios must be removed from the women’s custody. Modern ideas.

Female genital mutilation is a common practice in Africa, Egypt, Somalia and many other countries. And while reasons and techniques vary, Moolaade focus on religious connotations towards the act. There are many botched jobs and impoverished families perform the ritual with rusty knives and rocks, but still it goes on. The film never states what type of cutting is carried out here (infibulation or clitoraldectomy) but we do get a sense of alterations done to the genital. The night Collie’s husband returns home from long trip away they bed together. The ‘surgery’ not only removes pleasurable sensation during sex from the women who receive it but also makes it excruciatingly painful. After being ripped open at her purified surgical site Collie’s third wife comes to her aide. Still, up until this point even the women support this process.

This was Sembene’s last film at the age of 93. As his last work it comes to speak volumes. In an interview with Bonnie Greer in 2005 ( link below) he expressed his wish for the telling of this culture’s struggles, by this culture and his hope to do it justice. The film presents this harsh and controversial subject matter in a subtle and slow approaching way. For me, the impact lingers long past the credits.





Ousmane Sembène at Sundance



http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/jun/05/features

Hunger

The basic unit of measurements in a film is weighed out in shots, or clips. Cut from a slightly longer version to the finished product to yield around five to six seconds each, there are thousands of shots in every movie you view. Just as a minute is comprised of 60 seconds, the average time length for holding any single pose rarely lasts beyond this time frame. As we view a film the shots bounce round constantly from scene to scene so that we may experience the reactions of those around the camera from all angles, without actually being there. Being trained from infancy to accept this it seems slightly absurd to question the logic of the sequence or to break it down as such.

Hunger (2008 Steve McQueen) is comprised of three sections, the second of which is 20 minute medium shot which is played out straight through by main character’s Michael Fassbender and Rory Mullen. This kind of a shot was chosen artfully by director Steve McQueen to give you a taste of the solitude, the ambiance and the growing dramatic dialogue between these two at this time. The majority of clips aren’t shot past the 30 second mark, so for one 40 times this length is no small feat. The remaining few minutes of this section is shot in an eye-level close up, while Bobby Sands (Fassbender) recounts a relatable story from his childhood to the Priest (Mullen), to capture the intensity and reminiscence being conveyed.

This film is highly political, centered near Belfast in 81’s and documents the imprisonment of Irish republican prisoners as they make their way through the system. We are subject to the viewing of police in riot gear beating the absolute shit out of those in the institution, regular anal and oral checks, and the crafty ways inmates smuggle items in through different bodily orifices during visitation.

 On the flip side of that we also see a side of the war as viewed by the guards, one in particular named officer Raymond Lohan (played by Stuart Graham. We first meet him at home while dressing for his day at work. He wakes, has breakfast with his wife and checks his car for a bomb. Everything he does is in paled out colors and everywhere he goes is in silence when compared to the activity of the job and the outside world. His marriage suffers, he suffers, and everyone is suffering. There is no part of what he does that is allowed to stay at work without him.

Riddled with unabashed violence scattered all throughout, Hunger is not for the faint of heart.  The highlights being the director’s capacity to play up the acoustics from one scene to another and transition beautifully from sequence to sequence. This is a terrifyingly beautiful picture and never have I been more engrossed, turned off or disheartened while viewing something in my life. I would highly recommend it.

Unique twenty minute shot inside the prison walls.

Before the Rain

Most generally, Films are shot in linear form since that is what the viewer’s find most comfortable with. It is easy to accept, follow and agree with after all that is how we live our lives. There is no going backwards and the only way out is through it. Every once in a while a film will come along that not only defies this logic but plays leap frog around it. We can see examples of this sort of work by writer and director Quienton Taranitno in several of his movies and in Christopher Nolan’s 2002 film Momento.

In 1994, Milcho Manchevski wrote and directed another piece of work which mirrors this sort of chopped logic titled Before the Rains. The plot is a lemniscate of three intertwining lives twisted together from across the globe. Very political in its nature, you can never tell where the story actually kicks off at or where it ends. Perhaps that is the point the director is trying to get across.

This film lays down roots in the Republic of Macedonia during war time, Albania and London. It is sectioned up in to three parts “Words, Faces and Pictures”. The opening scene (Words) is at a Macedonian monastery with resident monk Kiril (played by Gregoire Colin) who has made good on his  vow of silence over the past two years but whom, but a series of unfortunate happenings, ends up in places he wouldn’t expect. He leaves the monetary, or is kicked out it is never clear due to harboring a young Albanian girl named Zamira (Labina Mitevska). One scene in this section in which the children of the village are playing with a turtle is particularly harrowing. They surround him with rocks, sticks and eventually fire. They throw bullets in the fire and all scatter. This being a reflection of the bigger problem, violence infiltrating the land and the UN’s unwillingness to stop it a well as a physical manifestation of the repeating theme : "Time never dies. The circle is not round." Everything is connected.

The next section is aptly titled “Faces” and opens with photographs of contemporary starlets bring you up to date with the times (since one was never established before). This is where we are introduced to the character who steals the most screen time and infiltrate’s the other settings, Aleksandar (played by Rade Serbedzija). We also meet this love interest in London Anne (Katrin Cartlidge). It is in the cab when they first re connect that he announces “A hard rains gunna fall”, namaste Bob Dylan and movie title all in one. You also get the sense that “Words” was recent, since there an obvious tension between those on opposite sides of the war in the restaurant scene. Another clue to the timing is a Beastie Boy’s song being played in Words, Faces and Pictures. Everything is connected.

‘Pictures’ is where the most of the questions which have been kicked up over the past hour and a half are answered or satisfied to a point. Aleksandar returns to his home for the first time in 16 years to a disheveled town where everything has changed, to this understanding. It is here he defies the new order that the villagers have gotten used to, and saves the life of Zamira, which eventually causes his death at the hands of his cousin. Everything is Connected.

There are some continuity issues that can be covered up with the whole time sketch explanation. Such as, how Anne got photos of Zimira, but it is this type of circular reasoning that is the overall theme of Before the Rain. There is also a constant lack of communication which drives the death and destruction available in each section of this war torn work.

Writer & director Milcho Manchevski.