merchimerch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
merchimerch) wrote2008-03-13 07:39 am
merchimerch) wrote2008-03-13 07:39 am
The Magdalene Sisters and Sex in a Cold Climate
Tuesday I was made of phlegm and menstrual cramps and could do nothing but curl up on my living room floor with herbal tea and a hot rice bag.
The one good thing that came of this was that I got to watch one of my netflix selections. This was one of those DVDs that netflix told me I'd like, but that I'd never heard of: The Magdalene Sisters.
It's a dramatization of the story of 4 women who were put in Magdalene Laundries in Ireland in the mid-20th Century. The Magdalene laundries were run by the Catholic church to help "fallen women" become penitent. It was originally designed to help prostitutes, but by the mid-20th Century they were primarily used to house (and get unpaid labor from) unwed mothers. The conditions were shocking, and the movie did a nice job of introducing us to a variety of deep characters. It's really not a happy pick-me-up film, but I enjoyed it.
The documentary, Sex in a Cold Climate, that comprises the bonus features section was even more interesting. (I think I'm on a documentary kick lately.) The interviews with women who had actually been through the Magdalene Laundries were so powerful. I highly recommend watching the film just for the documentary in the bonus features.
The one good thing that came of this was that I got to watch one of my netflix selections. This was one of those DVDs that netflix told me I'd like, but that I'd never heard of: The Magdalene Sisters.
It's a dramatization of the story of 4 women who were put in Magdalene Laundries in Ireland in the mid-20th Century. The Magdalene laundries were run by the Catholic church to help "fallen women" become penitent. It was originally designed to help prostitutes, but by the mid-20th Century they were primarily used to house (and get unpaid labor from) unwed mothers. The conditions were shocking, and the movie did a nice job of introducing us to a variety of deep characters. It's really not a happy pick-me-up film, but I enjoyed it.
The documentary, Sex in a Cold Climate, that comprises the bonus features section was even more interesting. (I think I'm on a documentary kick lately.) The interviews with women who had actually been through the Magdalene Laundries were so powerful. I highly recommend watching the film just for the documentary in the bonus features.