Introduction
Cyrus Nowrasteh is a film director widely known for his true story based film production. True story films present an actual situation or a condition. They serve a communication purpose of informing the public of a certain issue of human concern happening in a particular area. True story based films may also be geared to eliminate certain undesired norms practiced by a certain community in a society. A good example of a true based story film is “The Storming of Soraya M.”. This is a drama film presented in American Persian language. It is adopted from Freidoune Sahebjam’s book entitled “La Femme Lapidee” which is a true life experience story. This paper is going to analyze all the events in the film in relation to evil acts that human beings especially men do exercise on women. The main focus will be to review and address the horrific problems of the society. This includes the effects of growing up in an environment where women get a bad treatment and cruel punishments even for false allegations.
Movie summery
The film was first released on September 7th 2008 by Mpower picture studios and distributed by Roadside Attractions. Having a running time of exactly 116 minutes, the film begins when Zahra approaches a journalist who is stranded in Kuhpayeh, a remote village in Iran. Zahra intend to narrate the hallowing tale about Soraya, her niece who was stoned to death the day before. Freidoune begins to record the conversation with a tape recorder. Thereafter, Freidoune has to escape out of the country with the story to enable him tell the whole world.
Ali, Soraya’s husband is abusive to his wife and further tries to divorce Soraya and marry a fourteen year old girl. The village mullah therefore proposes to have Soraya as a temporary wife with the exchange for monetary support and protection. Soraya refuses the offer. A woman dies a few days later and the mullah, Ali and the village mayor asks Zahra to convince Soraya look after the widower. Soraya does the job in which she receives payment and Ali uses the opportunity to spread roamers that Soraya is unfaithful. Ali does that expecting that Soraya gets stoned to allow him remarry and get out of the child support burden. With the help of the mullah, Ali successfully spreads the infidelity rumors in which, Zahra learns one day while walking in town. Ali and the Mullah intimidate the widower to support their adultery case.
After the widower falsely agrees to have had an affair with Soraya, the trial is heard in the absence of Soraya. This is because the Iranian tradition does not allow women to attend any confinement. The conviction is then upheld allowing the mayor to pray to Allah for a sign signifying their acts is wrong. The signal never appeared and the stoning was due to take place. At the stoning event, Soraya’s father was given the first stone which he misses to hit Soraya repeatedly. The women present suggested the missing is a signal for Soraya’s innocence but the men did not care about their voices. Ali throws his stones and forces his sons to throw theirs. The widower however did not throw his stones but walked away while crying. Finally, Soraya gets stoned to death.
Response to the topic
Although remorseless evil men live among us in the society, there is always a way of addressing this hectic problem. For example, in the Middle East, specifically in Iraq, there have been revolts to liberate the disadvantaged women and the voiceless poor (Sanei et al., 2010). Iraq is an Islamic country guided by Islamic rules and regulations. Iraq and most of the Middle East nations are characterized by harsh norms and treatments on women. Women do not have equal rights with men and are often subjected to intimidations. The Iraqi society views their women as less human beings and servants of men. The nation’s law intimidates women. For instance, no woman can participate in any political activity. It is a perception that women cannot be leaders. Their place is the kitchen. They have no right over in the presence of a man. If a woman steals in Iraq, the situation becomes worse for her compared to if it were a man.
In the united state of America, women enjoy much freedom and opportunities like men do. This includes the Islamic women living in the US. Although they may be exposed to similar challenges of the Islamic laws, the US authorities have done much to recognize women effort in the development of the society. For instance, in the state of California, it is a law that upon an official marriage between a man and a woman, the two will benefit their recourses in equal measures. This extends further to when a divorce between them happens. A divorce does not mean a miserable life for a woman but a division of resources is likely to be done so as the woman get a share. It is their right and a right of everybody to be treated in humanly. Intimidating a woman is a bad perception and all men who practices such evil acts in the US face the necessary consequences as the law provides. Single women are recognized as a family in the US. This is contrarily to the situation in the Middle East nations. This is because the Islamic atmosphere in the Middle East does not give any woman a chance.
Reflection
The tendency to overlook and disregard contributions of women to the development of the society is a bad reflection. It symbolizes an uncivilized society. Treating women like slaves does not benefit either part. It further brings a miserable living to all human beings. This is because a woman is the basic part of the family. They contribute much therefore, should benefit much in return. When we punish women even for false accusations, it is us who bear the consequences. Giving them a space and fair handling leads to a harmonious society. Women are the pillar of every community. A community with less advantaged women in social and economic contribution is a powerless community. Empowering a woman is empowering the community.
References
Sanei, F., & Human Rights Watch (Organization) (2010). "We are a buried generation": Discrimination and violence against sexual minorities in Iran. New York, NY: Human Rights Watch.
