Moolaade

This is probably one of the best female empowering movies I have ever seen. Besides the Paramount Movie Blood Diamond, and a few African humanities class tapes, this is one of the first African films I have watched that wasn’t a documentary. Moolaade is written and Directed by Ousmane Sembene. This movie is about a group of kids that are being forced to go under female circumcision. Colle one of the wives’s in the tribe. She refused to have her daughter circumcised seven years ago, and for good reason. All little girls know how painful and tortures this operation can be; it can also be deadly. In the movie two girls drowned themselves in the well, three escaped and one died. The three that escape return back to their home village to seek protection behind Colle, and the Moolaade. The Moolaade is a sacred curse that can never be broken and never taken away unless the person that summoned the Moolaade commands it away. It was amazing witnessing and experiencing African life. It was so real to me; it put a lot of things in perspective for me.

Go Colle, Go Colle.  The main character to me was Colle. She was so strong, and powerful. She held her ground and stood for what she felt and knew was right. Even though female circumcision is a tradition and has been around for hundreds of years, it was something she didn't not want her children to go through. Lots of kids have died from this tradition; I don't think I would have risked my daughter’s life either, so I don't blame her.

The life they live was actually like everyone else’s, they raised their kids, make dinner, clean their houses, punish their kids, and have families disagreements like every family I know. With Africa being one of the poorest countries in the world there is a lot of stereotypes that come along with Africa. Despite how poor the country really is, these people made everything thing work. They might not have stoves, knives, but there were still able to have a wonderful nutritious meal. Also, they might not have buildings or actually homes with roofs on them to sleep in, but the tents and cloth that they used to make their homes was all they needed. Everyone in the Village works as a team, and all the wives help each other as much as they can. Family and the people that are in their village are all they have. So, everyone works as a team, so everyone can eat, and enjoy life as it is in Africa.

Another aspect of this movie that was very moving was the men in African society. Men in African society have way too much power and say so with what goes on in the village and with the women.  Women in Africa can’t poop without their husbands giving them the right to do it. This to me is way wrong. Men in that African society doesn’t let their wives do anything but raise their kids which I feel is so sexes to me. Women only had a small say so in that community. There reason why this movie moved me like it did was because at the end of the movie you say how the women of this tribe began to stand up for themselves and do what they wanted to do, instead of being ordered to do something.