Last night my girlfriend and I watched a relatively new movie called “Taken,” which stars Liam Neeson. I have to admit, I love action movies like Taken, Bourne Identity, Boondock Saints, etc. There’s just something about the way I am wired that would make me feel like the ultimate dude if I could do half the things they do on the screen.
So okay, I really liked the movie… for it’s action and thrills. I’d even watch it again and buy the DVD. At the end of it, however, I was really bothered and disappointed in a way. It’s not at all because the movie didn’t entertain but rather that I couldn’t help but think of the following:
- What about all of the other girls he left behind?
- Amanda, the daughters best friend is dead, what happened to her? Did they get in touch with the family?
- Shouldn’t Amanda be even more traumatized? So many girls who get kidnapped and put under these circumstances go as far as going BACK to their captures because they can no longer function in society.
- Why isn’t Bryan Mills (Liam’s character) starting a nonprofit organization, writing a book, and running missions to really make change in the cause like Aaron Cohen?
This wasn’t one of those movies like Hostel, which left me saying to myself, “I hope that doesnt happen to me” and leave it at that. Maybe it’s because I have a beautiful girlfriend, and we’ve been “tagged” and subsequently robbed by bad guys on our worldly travels before. I think it’s only partially my past experiences though, because I really saw the REAL story as sex trafficking; not about an ex-military father who saves his daughter despite all odds.
I’ll give the movie several things though (sorry that I don’t beat around the bush on some of these comments):
- Sex traffickers do target younger girls. It’s a long term investment. Virgins go for a far higher rate.
- There are VERY organized crime rings making millions of dollars a year if not more. These criminal organizations are only 2nd to drug rings.
- Countries such as the U.S. are NOT immune to this growing problem. In fact, some of this stuff is a stones throw away from places we interact with or see on a regular basis.
- Police and government officials are a part of the problem. Corruption in many countries is obviously rampant, especially in poverty stricken areas; this is part of the reason why Causecast believes all causes are inherently connected.
There’s a lot more that is accurately portayed, but again… I just can’t let go of the REAL story.
Fact of the matter is, sex trafficking is real, growing, and around us. If you want to get the scoop you should check out one of my favorite organizations Abolish Slavery. Our friend Aaron Cohen recently released a book on his missions. If you liked the movie Taken, then read his book and you’ll be happy to know that there is a real Bryan Mills… Aaron… the Slave Hunter.
Abolish Slavery is Aaron Cohen’s nonprofit organization, and here’s the book: http://www.amazon.com/Slave-Hunter-Global-Victims-Trafficking/dp/1416961178/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248139480&sr=8-1
5 responses so far ↓
Jonathan // July 20, 2009 at 7:32 pm |
It’s funny, because I enjoyed that movie as well, although the things that stuck out to me were not the odd omission of emotional trauma from the daughter, but the outrageous, almost insane level of xenophobia. Literally every Eastern European or Middle Eastern person in the film is a devious, drooling hedonist intent on keeping the young white girl prisoner.
While Taken may get more people interested in the real life problem of international sex trafficking, I doubt it will educate Americans as to the true scope of the issue. It truly does go beyond attractive white girls who travel abroad.
Also, as my brother pointed out, Taken may have set a record for most neck punches ever in a single film.
jsutandyo // July 20, 2009 at 8:17 pm |
xenophobia indeed
i also agree that it won’t educate any americans on the true issue. this is why i felt a bit troubled at the end of it. people saw Bryan Mills’ saving of his daughter as a victory and breathed a sigh of relief. it was a happy ending.
now that i am a lot more educated on the issue, i just cant bring myself to say it was a happy ending. it isn’t.
joycecherrier // July 21, 2009 at 7:37 am |
Because I haven’t seen the movie, I won’t comment on it, but my husband did see it. We have 2 duaghters and he said it was so disturbing to him and he was glad for the ending from a Dad perspective. I agree with Jonathan in the above comment.I think we don’t have a clue about the scope of the issue and it seems a lot of people I speak with don’t want to talk about it. I wonder why?
jsutandyo // July 21, 2009 at 9:48 am |
It’s a lot of reasons, but mostly because it’s not an immediate threat to us and hence not much of a priority. Talking about it is, to be honest, a big downer too… no one really denies that it’s happening… even in their own neighborhoods.
I would react like most people if I wasn’t a lot more educated about the issue. I think it validates the “awareness breads action” thinking of many of the nonprofits.
David // October 30, 2009 at 3:22 pm |
It was a bit unfair to just decide to set all of this in Paris. The director portrayed France as if it were some kind of weird corrupt mess, which is far from reality. It’s certainly no more corrupt than any other Western country e.g. the US or UK etc
They could have given a strong role to a French law enforcement agent, police officer, etc, but they chose instead to portray the entire French state as corrupt.
If the movie was going to educate American audiences about sex trafficking, they should have set it in New York or LA or somewhere a bit closer to home. Setting it in Paris just kind of made the problem seem removed, and as if it was something that might happen ‘in Europe or whatever’.
In general, I thought the movie missed the opportunity to deal with what is a massive global issue, i.e. sex trafficking, by treating it in such an infantile ‘James Bond’ manner.
The plot also has so many holes that it’s like Swiss Cheese.There were some strong human interest story lines just left hanging in mid-air i.e. what happened to his daughter’s friend?
What happened to the corrupt French intelligence agent, was he arrested?
What happened to all the other girls he rescued? It seemed like he just left them there!
I came away from this film with an impression that the director just crassly tacked an action movie onto what is a very sensitive human rights issue and threw in a bit of xenophobia towards the French, the Albanians, Eastern Europeans and Arabs just for the hell of it.
Very unimpressed!