MovieChat Forums > The Magdalene Sisters (2003) Discussion > nude scene

nude scene

posted 17 years ago by peoplescommunistfront
84 replies | jump to latest

Am I the only one who during that time just kept thinking about what the actresses must've been thinking while filming it? It's not like it some was dimly lit erotic scene. Here there are standing in all their glory with a very clear view knowing full well that any friends or family they have that'll eventually see the movie are going to get a very clear view of their breasts and furry patches, and dealing with the fact that many people they meet for the rest of their lives will have seen them fully nude. It's not like this was some obscurish shower scene where they can't be made out very well and easily forgotten. Plus the nuns are actually COMMENTING ON THEIR BODIES during this time no doubt adding to the humiliation.

Also makes me wonder about how hard it was to cast for this. I don't know any of my female friends who'd accept to be in a movie knowing it contained a scene of that, which also means that afterwords I and all other male friends of them would've seen them naked, as well as their parents and relatives. It's not like the girls in this movie were exhibitionist porn stars.

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[–] robinbuday 17 years ago

Grow up, it's art.

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[–] pyota 16 years ago

amen

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[–] polexia 8 years ago

Vaginas do not grow hair. If you think the vagina grows hair, you are lacking brain cells.

All adults have pubic hair (pubic=puberty). Same stuff growing on men's faces is what's growing in our pits and groins. If women have to shave their hair off, men should as well. Everything, every little bit including their behinds. Have fun getting a razor up there.

I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose.
Fire away, fire away.

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[–] CarusProductions 10 years ago

They didn't show their bodies for "art". Your comment is immature and generic. The whole point of the scene was to show how society reacts whenever the female body is shown.

Karina Licursi ~

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[–] Queen-Of-Hearts87 17 years ago

It may be art, but theyre still human beings who can get embarrassed about stuff. I wouldnt do a nude scene in a movie or whatever for ANY AMOUNT OF MONEY, coz i wouldnt be comfortable. It wouldve been difficult to film AND cast, i agree, coz it's not the easiest scene to film, and i wouldnt want my family seeing me naked coz those areas are private and i dont want to show them to the world.

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[–] robinbuday 17 years ago

That's you, not them. Professional actors and actresses are prepared for certain things especially if they believe in the story.

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[–] Lightning-Rose 17 years ago

pssst...

Some members of your family have already seen "those areas".

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[–] running_blind5784 17 years ago

you're lame. the human body wasn't meant to be shameful.

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[–] xreesex 16 years ago

Exactly, which is part of what makes that scene even more disturbing. The nuns are shaming these women, making them feel lowly and horrid about their very normal, very natural bodies. The catholic religion as a whole, esp in that time period, was so scared of the human body they found it to be SINFUL. How something they believe their god created could be so sinful, is beyond me. Anyways, yeah, for me it made the scene that much worse, that they were breaking these women in every way possible, down to the very basics- our bodies.

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[–] ksandness 16 years ago

To me, the most striking thing about that scene--and about the whole movie actually--was the relative lack of solidarity among the inmates.

In the shower scene, there were eight or so of them being taunted by ONE nun. At all times, the nuns were greatly outnumbered by the inmates.

None of the women who escaped or were released told the outside world how they were being mistreated. When the two steal the Mother Superior's keys at the end and escape, they don't release their friends.

I wonder how long the system would have lasted if the inmates had gotten together and rebelled.

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[–] kitkat981 16 years ago

I know! I kept wanting them rise up, overtake the nuns, and flee, but as other posters have already pointed out, most these women had been broken down and brainwashed into believing they were guilty sinners. They had no hope, and they had been placed there by their parents. Most of them had nowhere to run to, as evidenced by Una, who was dragged back by her father. They probably figured it was better to stay and take the abuse then to be homeless and most likley have to resort to prostitution to get by.

I think I was also struck by the lack of solidarity, because you'd think a place like that would bring the inmates together, but inmates are exactly what they were. How much solidarity is there between the inmates in a prison? You might make alliances, but sisterly bonds? I think these women lived in such sheer terror of constant punishment any infraction, real or imaginary, that they learned to never utter a word or do anything to bring the punishment on them, which meant standing silently by as your fellow inmates were punished. Its horrible. And I guess when they escaped they were to ashamed of what had happened and wanted to put it all behind them so they never spoke of it, like a rape victim or a victim of domestic abuse. Now if it were me, I'd tell everyone who'd listen, including the police, but that's me.

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[–] DalcassianKnight 12 years ago

Rise up? Yes, rebellion, revenge. How cliché, how "Hollywood". Of course let's ruin the movie by "Hollywoodizing" it and adding a happy ending. One of my favorite lines in film is taken from "The Devil's Own" and is said by Brad Pitt who accurately said "Don't look for a happy ending, it's not an American story, it's an Irish story".

Far to often, the Hollywood writers and producers ruin what should have been a terrific film by inserting what I like to call "Hollywoodizms", to make the story better, more palateable for the viewers.

For some people in certain situations, especially the Irish, just to survive was a good enough ending. They don't always want revenge or to win the day. Just to escape with one's life was all they wanted.

Oh and a quick note to the OP. I think you missed the ENTIRE meaning of that scene.

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[–] victoria4504 16 years ago

Of course no one was telling any one what was happening inside these "prisons." Afterall, if you recall, one of the girls was actually sent to the Magdalene Sisters because she told her family that she had been raped by a cousin! Most of the others had been put there because they were no longer wanted by their families. If their families thought they were sinners how can you expect these women to come together and rebell against the cruel treatment they were exposed to? How were they supposed to know that they weren't actually sinners? And, even if they did know they were good and didn't deserve what was happening to them, they surely knew that other people most likely would not believe them.

Remember, these girls were the "property" of the Catholic Church. How many of you think you could fight the church and win? Perhaps you should take a look at the life and times of Father Oliver O'Grady.

http://www.snapnetwork.org/priest_stories/glimpse_mind_pedophile.htm

Even in this day and age you do not win when you try to fight the Catholic Church. This story took place in the 19th Century!

As for the nude scene...if you think that the actresses should be embarrassed by their performances, then you probably also think that the Magdalene Sisters Asylums were not such a bad idea! Not to mention, that you were probably raised Catholic!

Won't you please talk to me while I'm listening? Nancy Griffith

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[–] peteandurnot 16 years ago

To me, the most striking thing about that scene--and about the whole movie actually--was the relative lack of solidarity among the inmates.

In the shower scene, there were eight or so of them being taunted by ONE nun. At all times, the nuns were greatly outnumbered by the inmates.

None of the women who escaped or were released told the outside world how they were being mistreated. When the two steal the Mother Superior's keys at the end and escape, they don't release their friends.

I wonder how long the system would have lasted if the inmates had gotten together and rebelled.

Go to Google or Yahoo and look up Mary Norris. You should find an Article called 'A very rish sort of Hell'. That should explain somethings even the Film can't.

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[–] nklayman1 9 years ago

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/04/04/1048962932185.html

Here's a link to the article you mentioned - glad to have read it, thanks.

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[–] cookiela2001 12 years ago

<< To me, the most striking thing about that scene--and about the whole movie actually--was the relative lack of solidarity among the inmates.

In the shower scene, there were eight or so of them being taunted by ONE nun. At all times, the nuns were greatly outnumbered by the inmates. >>

Well, there were 2 nuns abusing the girls in that scene, even though just 1 was talking.

There's solidarity between Rose and Bernadette, and Margaret and Crispina...but the "survival / everyone for themselves" attitude is summed up in the subplot about Crispina's hidden medal. It makes Bernadette feel bad about her own situation that the other girl has something that makes her smile, so Bernadette removes it.

As far as involving the other girls in a possible escape...the more people you involve in an operation like that, the more mistakes can be made; i.e., the more risk.

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[–] ilahilda 9 years ago

That was a sad, cruel scene.

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[–] Fleurus 12 years ago

I completely agree with you !
I, too, wondered why they were so passive.

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[–] the_soul_harvester 11 years ago

Well, peoples largely outnumber governments!!!

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[–] kitkat981 16 years ago

I hear you, but I'm not a professional actress either. Obviously, the actresses were comfortable doing it, because they agreed to do it! Not everyone is embarrassed to be naked.

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[–] Abstraction1 16 years ago

if they want to throw away their dignity, its their fault, nobody forced them

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[–] ceebeegee 11 years ago

What a stupid, stupid comment. You completely miss the point of the scene.

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[–] GryByteman 10 years ago

Just because YOU think that nudity is not dignified does not mean that everyone agrees with you.

When I was about 43, I visited my first major nudist colony. It happened to be a nudist convention that brought people from all over the country. There were one thousand people at that Turtle Lake Resort convention, the Midwest Naturist Gathering in 1994. (I had visited a small nudist park in Indiana with my wife the day after our wedding in 1984, but that was only a dozen people).

Five minutes after I got there, I realized that though we could see each other's nudity, we weren't staring.

I realized that, as far as our skin was concerned, we were each clothed in dignity.

After those two nudist resort visits, I went on to join the largest nudist resort in the US for two years (1994-1996). What amazed me was the feeling that everyone was equal during the entire weekend, but on Sunday afternoon, when people got dressed in order to return to society, how I started feeling like a nerd again. Clothes do make us feel different from each other.

I understand that if YOU were an actor, you would be embarrassed to let other people see you naked, but don't ascribe your feelings against everyone else.

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[–] danteandsparta 17 years ago

This scene was not meant to be a "nude" scene. It was meant to show that these nuns were damaging these women both physically and psychologically. The fact that they are naked has nothing to do with shame, if they didn't want to be seen naked, they wouldn't have been in the movie. Art is a beautiful thing, and art was what that scene was.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Libbyanne2 17 years ago

I'm sure that the actresses were aware of the nude scenes when they read the script and signed the contract.

No one forced them to do it and I doubt anyone will instantly recall the scene if they were to run into them on the street.

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[–] pcppirate 17 years ago

i'm pretty sure the whole back scene was frought with lols.

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[–] Mikurtis 17 years ago

hey, even professional actors get nervous about nude scenes. Oliver Reed and Alan Bates, for example, were reportedly very nervous about their nude wrestling scene in "Women In Love". So, they had a few drinks, stripped down and compared size and stuff before the scene---and, it all went swimingly well after that

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] afrotiffy 17 years ago

'bushy'?

Because God-forbid you ever have to see a natural vagina! Oh no, let's enact "must be trimmed" legislation right this minute! You hold your breath while I go call Congress.

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[–] Gdub33 16 years ago

Bushy vigina's are gross, women should take pride in their bodies, and that means shaving down there..

--
http://www.myspace.com/gdub33

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[–] aimeyir 16 years ago

We'll shave ours if you shave yours. Bushy nutz are gross. =P

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] sorchasgarden 16 years ago

This is a wonderful response and I may have to use your quote as my signature line. Thanks!

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] kitkat981 16 years ago

If women must shave, so must men. Its only fair. We shouldn't have to spend all the time and money we spend taking care of ourselves while you guys get to let yourselves go. Most women don't think hirsute men are all that attractive, but we don't complain. Even if we did you probably still wouldn't do anything about it. You'd say, "That's the way I am. Deal with it!" By the way, this is not a rant directed at all men. Just the stupid ones.

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[–] screenscreams 12 years ago

Who wants to look like a little girl? Go shave yourself, Mr.

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[–] RideTheMaverick 10 years ago

ok, look, you cant be altogether stupid. you do realize this movie took place a LONG time ago? shaving that area, i am pretty sure wasnt the *thing women did*. also, i have a hunch, that some of the nude women in this scene, which i have yet to see, but will VERY soon (that is why i am here, reading up on it), probably do keep up on those areas, and just made sure that their nether regions matched that place in time. i know you get this. i KNOW you must.

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[–] merikari 17 years ago

People have already mentioned that they are professional actors.

In addition to that, why should they be ashamed of their "breasts and furry patches"? It's natural. We are born naked, it's nothing to be ashamed of.

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[–] poe-30 17 years ago

I think that probably it was hard to do for the reasons you stated, but at the same time it is an illuminating film and it creates a lot of sympathy for the women in the scene.

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[–] albers-bill 17 years ago

I believe that this scene was a difficult one for these women, not because of their nudity before the camera, but because of the humiliation that was being heaped on them. This was the purpose of the scene and I, for one was moved by the torments, perhaps this one more than any other, that they had to endure. These nuns professed to care for them, but here they betrayed them in a most private and basic manner.

I'm all for it, that is, unless I'm agin' it

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[–] therznoplacelikehome 17 years ago

you know nothing about this film then? have you actuallly watched the whole film. all of the actresses in the film were conveying how bad it was when young girls in ireland were punished. if anything you only get a glimpse at the severity of the punishment at that time in ireland.

take it your not from ireland?

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] bathory-2 17 years ago

if that is what you really think,then you should lock yourself up into that asylum.

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