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Violence In The Movie Rashomon

Decent Essays

In contrast, the movie Rashomon has a more negative perspective represented of women. The main female lead in Rashomon is the wife of the Samurai/dead man. In the wife’s recollection of events, she explained that she had been raped by the bandit, where after her husband looked at her with disgust and repulsion. This is a scenario that occurs too often in our present-day society. The rapist runs away after committing the crime (rape), leaving the victim in an attempt to lead a normal life. Often, the victim will feel dirty or unlovable, thinking their partner will no longer see them as the same. In Rashomon, after the incident, the Samurai is disgusted by his wife after she’s been raped. This corresponds with the discriminating mindset that rape is the fault of the victim. Some say it’s due to what you wear, or how you act that determines your fate (Sarmiento, 2011). In the movie, it was the women’s fault because of her astonishing beauty. Today, the conversation of rape is still a very large social issue. However, from my personal perspective, the movie Rashomon seemed to discredit the seriousness of the situation. Rape is an action that cannot be wiped away from someone’s memory, and will seriously affect its victim for (most likely) the rest of their lives (Sarmiento, 2011). In the movie, after the wife had been raped, she asked her husband to kill her, as she couldn’t bear for him to look at her anymore. We must however, keep in mind the time period in which this movie was released, as well as the culture. In 1950’s Japan, women had little authority/independence (Anan, 2012). Therefore, a movie such as this wouldn’t receive as severe backlash. However, if it was released today, I believe that it would receive negative feedback due to its insensitivity towards the social issue of rape. In comparison, Spirited Away and Rashamon both have themes of women depicted throughout, however in very different methods. Spirited Away portrays women as strong, developing, independent female leads. Whereas Rashamon illustrates its female lead as weak, vulnerable and tragic. The theme of women and their portrayal in East Asian cinema is that of an unbalanced social issue/concern. What makes Spirited Away unique in

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