Abolitionist at the Movies: Reviews of Taken, The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire

Published February 09, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT

When there's one film commercially available that has themes associated with human trafficking, I'm in awe. When there are three films, two of which have received some acclaim, and all of which are sticking around for more than a week, well, I feel I have to review them.

Taken

While human trafficking rings in Europe are a central plot-generator for this film, the plausibility of what actually occurs is tenuous at best. Liam Neeson's attractive, white, mostly well-behaved daughter is kidnapped by traffickers while studying abroad in Paris. Basically, the traffickers target the well-connected daughter of a CIA agent when there are plenty of unprotected vulnerable immigrants entering Paris every day. Yeah, right. From one recorded phone call, Neeson figures out who the traffickers are where they're from. He's even told he has 96 hours to find her, "or she'll be gone forever." Albanian sex-slave kidnapping rings don't usually work on such tight deadlines. Go see it if you're into action films or being saved by your father, but don't expect to learn much about trafficking.

The Wrestler

The Wrestler features 0 human trafficking victims and never uses the word trafficking, but the heart-breaking new release tells a story that is seldom told: how the commercial sex industry chews up and spits out women, even those who choose to be there. Marissa Tomei plays Pam/"Cassidy", a mother trying to support her son by dancing topless, even though she's not as young as she used to be. While audiences are supposed to (and do) love and sympathize with Mickey Rourke's unapologetic, well-intentioned screw-up character of Randy "The Ram", it's Tomei's eyes as she's alternately used and rejected by men which really break your heart. Go see it with someone you can talk to about the heavy themes.

Slumdog Millionaire

While it's more about love, India, corruption and love again, child trafficking features prominently in Slumdog Millionaire. The plight of street children trafficked for begging in India fits as seamlessly into the film as the children themselves do into the landscape of Mumbai. Out of the three, this one by far portrays trafficking in its most real-to-life form- painful, hidden, affecting those who have no one to reach out to for help. It's not an activist film, but it has a true activist heart.

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Comments (2)

Dang, Amanda, you post stuff faster than I can read it. Slow down!I liked "Taken" as a popcorn thriller, and I will be happy if it exposes some people to trafficking as an issue and maybe they will learn more. But I thought yeah, right, they're going to prey on rich American tourists landing at the airport, and the police are going to shrug it off. Bet that happens a lot!And Slumdog, of course, is just awesome. It deserves to win Best Picture! Actually, Wall-E deserves to win Best Picture, but it wasnt nominated and has zero trafficking!

Posted by Slim Chance on 02/11/2009 @ 03:18PM PT
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It's good that the there is enough awareness of human trafficking for it to begin emerging as a theme in film and TV. If you don't plan to go out to a film this weekend, here are a few for your Nextflix queue:

Born into Brothels (documentary)

Trade (starring Kevin Kline)

Human Trafficking (with Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland--originally aired on Lifetime)

Amazing Grace (inspirational story of William Wilberforce's work to abolish the British slave trade)

Posted by Karrin A. on 02/13/2009 @ 07:18PM PT
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Author

Amanda has been a full-time abolitionist for six years. During that time, she has created reports, documentaries and training materials on human trafficking in the United States and around the world.