Losing my religion.

[mia]

I watched this movie last night, went to sleep shocked, and a day later find myself still mourning for these girls.
So close to home. I never knew.

[hrmjustin]

1. I remember how angry I was after I watched it for the first time.

[Laffy Kat]

2. What's it about? I don't want to watch it. nt

[mia]

3. The Magdelene Sisters...

is a movie about barbaric practices against women, who were locked up without trial and sentenced to forced, unpaid labor for such crimes as flirting with boys, becoming pregnant out of wedlock, or being raped. These inhuman punishments did not take place in Afghanistan under the Taliban, but in Ireland under the Sisters of Mercy. And they are not ancient history. The Magdalene Laundries flourished through the 1970s and processed some 30,000 victims; the last were closed in 1996.

"The Magdalene Sisters" is a harrowing look at institutional cruelty, perpetrated by the Catholic Church in Ireland, and justified by a perverted hysteria about sex. "I've never been with any lads ever," one girl says, protesting her sentence, "and that's the god's honest truth." A nun replies: "But you'd like to, wouldn't you?" And because she might want to, because she flirted with boys outside the walls of her orphanage, she gets what could amount to a life sentence at slave labor.

This film has been attacked by the Catholic League, but its facts stand up; a series of Irish Times articles on the Internet talk of cash settlements totaling millions of pounds to women who were caught in the Magdalene net. What is inexplicable is that this practice could have existed in our own time, in a Western European nation. The laundries were justified because they saved the souls of their inmates--but what about the souls of those who ran them? Raised in the Catholic Church in America at about the same time, I had nothing but positive experiences. The Dominican Sisters who taught us were dedicated, kind and brilliant teachers, and when I see a film like this I wonder what went wrong in Ireland--or right at St. Mary's Grade School in Champaign-Urbana.

"The Magdalene Sisters" focuses on the true stories of three girls who fell into the net. As the film opens, we see Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) lured aside by a relative at a family wedding, and raped. When she tells a friend what has happened, the word quickly spreads, and within days it is she, not the rapist, who is punished. Her sentence, like most of the Magdalene sentences, is indefinite, and as she goes to breakfast on her first morning she passes a line of older women who have been held here all their lives....

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-magdalene-sisters-2003

[Laffy Kat]

5. Thanks for the synopsis. Sigh.

How can Catholicism continue to flourish in this day and age. What the hell is it going to take? What?

[rug]

4. Thanks for the link to the whole movie.

[cbayer]

6. I can barely download a page right now, so streaming is completely out of the question, but

I would really like to see this when I can.

Thanks for posting it, mia.

[DuckBurp]

7. I watched the movie.

It had me hooked from the start. It made a real impression on me. How could their own families do that to them? Very interesting to see what happened to these young people later in life. Especially Rose who, it said, remained a devout Catholic until her death.

[Grateful for Hope]

8. I don't normally post here

but, I had a similar reaction to the film that you did.

I can't get it out of my mind.

I am a lapsed catholic because of an experience when I was a teenager with a priest, and I thought I had a really bad experience. But, seeing this film, I realize that there is so much worse than what I went through.

This was slavery enhanced by capitalizing on these girls/women low self esteem.

I really can't wrap my mind around what they went through.

OMG

[cbayer]

9. Hey, you! How are you?

Glad to see you here.

I haven't seen this film yet, but will based on the feedback this thread is getting. I have read about this and it is a horrific story.

[Grateful for Hope]

10. I am good (thanks for asking!)

How are you? It's good to see you back.

It is definitely horrific. How it could have possibly been justified is beyond my comprehension.

[cbayer]

11. I'm great, thanks.

We had a fabulous road trip. Saw all the kids, best friends, other relatives. Incredible time in NOLA for Jazz Fest.

Now back out at anchor - lovely.

What's going on with you? Working from home? Family ok?

We can't stream anything right now, so it's going to be awhile before I can watch this, but I've put it on my list.

Hope to see you around more!