Category: Movie Review

Say No To  Abuse

There is no place for the glorification of sadomasochism and sexual abuse in any culture that stands against human trafficking. Yet Hollywood–Universal Pictures and Focus Features– is giving a platform to 50 Shades of Grey, a pornographic movie  that merges erotica and violence. It has been controversially scaled down to an R rating so it can be served up as a mainstream offering and woo this generation of sons and daughters with a sleek and sexy–and completely inaccurate— look into the world of BDSM. To add insult to injury, this piece of cinematic garbage will be released the day before Valentine’s Day.

[quote]Critics have described the book as misogynistic, pornographic, exploitative, sexually violent, and anti-romance – and there is little reason to expect the film will be anything different.

Opposition to the book and movie crosses the ideological spectrum, with many feminists expressing grave concerns about the messages the book is sending. One post on the leading feminist website Jezebel slammed the book (and by extension, the movie) as ’50 Shades of Abuse.'[/quote]

[button link=”https://www.lifesitenews.com/petitions/50-shades-boycott” color=”black” newwindow=”yes”] Sign The Petition to Boycott 50 Shades of Grey[/button]

[quote]

Actually, this entire ’50 Shades of Degradation’ is pathetic. It points out the tremendous flaws in our male/female relationships. If men and women need to fantasize about controlling and degrading a sexual partner in order to get turned on — then, we are truly out of touch with what human intimacy is all about.

I would suppose that women, who seem to be running to this, are so unsatisfied with their sexual partners that perhaps we need to ask ourselves — why?

But, the unfortunate reality is that very few people will look at this for what it is, but instead, look at it for what the ‘studio’ wants us to see it as. Yes, their dream is that we’ll look at this behavior as — ‘normal’.

I’m pretty sure that abuse hotlines, battered women’s shelters, and our local police departments will be dealing with the aftermath of our ‘normalizing’ the subject matter of S&M.

Women as victims is nothing new in this world. It’s truly a shame to see this so ‘mainstreamed’. It’s particularly disturbing to know that there are so many women drinking the kool-aid known as — sexploitation. Good luck with that, ladies. (Robert, commenting the day after the film was released.)[/quote]

Half The Sky: Read The Book And Watch The DVD

When we launched Justice For Youth over two years ago, I was eager to make up for lost time and learn everything I could about human trafficking: the statistics, the stories and the root causes. One of the very first books I read was “Half The Sky” by Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn. Together this couple traveled extensively to see for themselves the persecution and oppression that women were experiencing and to journal it. The book, named to bring attention to the assault that is taking place on half of the world’s population, is the result of their discoveries. The subjects of the book are beautiful, disarming girls, and when I read of their plight, I could connect with their pain as I could with my mother, my sister, my daughters, my wife. The stories of gendercide and abuse are heart rending. But I finished the book with a sense of hope that something can be done if we are willing to pay the price.

Gendercide is a real.  (We all would do well to define gendercide as an attack on our mother.) The War On Baby Girls is real. Sex trafficking is rampant and growing globally.  Half the Sky by Kristof puts a very articulate and in depth focus on the problem. The target: girls of every age. We must speak out. We must hold government officials accountable. We must pray. We must be aware of what is going on around us. Some of us must go to these places and do what we can to relieve the pain and set things right.

If you haven’t read the book “Half The Sky” and don’t feel you have the time to do so, then by all means watch the two part series of the same name which was produced last Fall. It is available on Netflix—WATCH IT! If you are not a Netflix subscriber, then purchase the DVD. We have linked it on the sidebar for your convenience.

Here is an excellent intro to get you started:

[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]http://advocacy.justiceforyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/John-Mugshot.jpg[/author_image] [author_info]John Nielsen is a social entrepreneur who, having served all of his adult life championing young people on four continents, is now speaking out passionately against global human trafficking. (Copyright 2013– Justice For Youth. All rights reserved.) [/author_info] [/author]

Standing in front of the Gosnell clinic a black abortion abolitionist reads: “Abortion is the number one killer of black people, killing more black people than all other deaths combined…there are many of us who have forgotten what THE DREAM was all about…make no mistake: abortion is a civil rights issue!”

3801 Lancaster is a documentary written and directed by David Altrogge. It became the center of discussion on  Anderson Cooper 360 last Friday evening. This well produced piece looks at  the Kermitt Gosnell fiasco in vivid detail, giving us glimpses into the trial, the characters, the victims and the response of people who live around the clinic–including a group of black modern day abolitionists who rise as voices in the misty darkness of this horrible ordeal.

This morning, David and his team wrote this on their blog:

Last night we took a moment of silence from discussing the Gosnell case in honor of those who died in Boston.

Today, we will resume our conversation about what happened in Philadelphia.  Why?  Because people have value.  We must never forgot those who died, both in Boston, at the hands of a bomber, and in Philadelphia, at the hands Kermit Gosnell.  If we don’t talk about what happened, we will forget.  And if we forget, it will happen again.

Tell Your Friends About 3801 Lancaster Ave

We highly recommend you take time to view 3801 Lancaster–and recommend you pass it on to others.This is a powerful documentary that doesn’t simply address the facts, it raises deeper questions. The website for the project is 3801lancaster.com It is the start of a conversation that its producers hope will continue, so this will never happen again. Below is this 15 minute film that we rate MUST SEE:

The movie Trade, starring Kevin Kline (2007), is a riveting, true to life depiction of the human trafficking industry no holds barred. On a number of occasions during my viewing I struggled to contain my emotions and wondered if I could continue watching without taking a break to absorb it all. The movie is that good, that authentic. And human trafficking is that disturbing.

The story opens in the barrios of Mexico City, with an all-Spanish dialogue. I was instantly reminded of City of Joy,  in that this movie, too, unashamedly immersed me the third world and placed me at the ground level, in the culture, from start to finish. There is no glamor here. There are no special effects or edited content to dramatize or soften the story.

The characters are unforgettable. There’s the 18 year old maverick son who, himself involved in street crime, discovers that his thirteen year old sister has been kidnapped and does not rest until he finds her. There are the trafficking victims, looking heavenward in hopes of survival. There is the Russian mafia and the Mexican mafia and the smaller players who play their part in this tale of terror. There’s an American man, played by Kevin Kline, who is on a search for his missing daughter. There are the corrupt officials, the border crossings and the weeping parents.

[quote type=”center”] The sense of loss. The loss of innocence. The despair of the trapped. The passionate desperation of the hero to save the lost. [/quote]

I would highly recommend this movie to anyone. But I am warning you: it is graphic. It is disturbing. But it is real. If you watch it, you will be moved. I promise.

Human trafficking of girls is a global epidemic. International human trafficking is a very lucrative business and attracts a very sordid group of organized criminals. This movie will introduce you to an inside look at the modern day slave trade and the plight of at risk youth.

Find it, rent it, watch it. If you can’t find it at the video store, do what I did. If you don’t already have an account, take Netflix (or Amazon Prime) up on their free trial offer and watch it on-line. And when you’ve finished watching come back here and drop us a comment. We would love to have your in-put, and better yet, we would love to have you join us as we seek to stop this vicious attack on our youth.