I'm just confused, it's like she didn't react much when he did that to her for the first time. She still talked to him and it looked like she had a little crush on him too. Then she was still talking to Mr. Vuoso at the end. I don't get it
shareRemember her panicked reaction right after he left her that first night? She frantically tried to wash the blood out of her pants and underwear, then she threw away the underwear and buried it deep in the garbage outside. She was confused and ashamed. And then when Vuoso seemed sorry later about what he'd done, she tried to convince herself that he cared about her because she didn't understand/want to think about how he hurt her and took advantage of her.
If you read the book it's clear how conflicted she feels about the incident, because of her mixed-up/naive ideas about men, bodies, and sex.
I feel cranky and pubescent today, and I don't know why. I'm going to take it out on people I like.
You'd think that traumatic events that we are told are supposed to scar us for life would start out w/a home run emotional reaction at the point the damage is done. But it often doesn't go like that. After all, she was doing what she wanted, but there's a reason that children are below the age of consent: because of the harm they are apt to suffer from afterwards.
shareI also got the feeling that Jasira did not realize that she had been violated until she read the book that Melina gave her for Christmas. As she reads the chapter about rape and realizes that she had been victimized she then goes to Vuoso's house with the intent of confronting him about what he did to her. In my opinion, Jasira not knowing that she had been hurt was her parents' fault, because, they did not seem to have the time of day to talk to her about sex. They never told her anything about the matter and that made her naive. Every time she had a question to ask about sex, her parents scolded her and that lead her to learn the wrong things. Since her parents did not give her the attention she needed, she fed off the attention that Vuoso gave her (even if that attention hurt her). For some people, especially teenagers, bad attention is better than no attention at all.
shareShe was traumatized, but she hid it because she thought that it was what she was "supposed" to do. She was supposed to do what the man wanted. One of the things this film tries to convey is how strict, overbearing parents can damage and feed into a child's psychology. The values they teach her centre around showing unconditional respect and obedience to people (especially adult figures). She feels such a lack of autonomy as a result of this that she goes along with a rape.
shareTrue but I think the main center of this film is about not loving your child enough to keep them aware of the dangers out there and talk to them about sex and rape. He wanted to raise her under strict rule of a foreign rule and shield her from the outside world and in doing that he crippled her. Her mother didn't want her any way.It's like she was Alice falling down a black whole into the unknown and it was her parents fault.
shareI'd say Jasira was...when her father was there talking to her in the kitchen, she sat sulking and in her own little world. She stared down at the counter in a mixture of shame and shock over what that pig neighbour did to her..i felt sorry for her actually..
shareShe was traumatized but not everyone reacts the same. Some remain in a state of shock for a prolong amount of time, others dont....
My baby sister cries (looks up with head tilted & high pitched voice) day & for something to eat...
She wasn't traumatized at all. Society and the like says she should be so then she tries to feel what wasn't there in the first place. No force or coercion was used so therefore no room for trauma.
shareYou're speaking like a fool, Langley. She was traumatized and that partly explains her panicked, then sulking, then sometimes angry behavior, or other times neutral. Her moods would switch after it happened; girls that age do not simply get harmed that way and forcefully to boot without being badly affected.
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