Born Into Brothels By Zana Briski And Ross Kauffman

955 Words2 Pages

The multi-award winning documentary ‘Born Into Brothels’, directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, acknowledges the lives of children who have unfortunately been trapped within the Red-Light district of Calcutta, India. This red-light district is recognized by the world as the second-largest red-light district in the world, containing several hundreds of multi-story brothels with an approximated 11,000 ‘sex workers’. Typically, as a high school student of Western Civil origin, I have not been subjected to this kind of raw violence and confronting and cramped living conditions. I recognized that my generalized emotion throughout the entirety of the documentary was sympathy directed toward the children who were outspokenly forced to endure …show more content…

The repetitive use of close-up camera angles was purposefully manipulated by the producers of the documentary in order to demonstrate how ridiculously cramped and hectic the environment was. Often, a camera was attached to Zana Briski’s chest to involve the viewer into the documentary, giving them a proper perspective of life in the red-light district. It was explicitly obvious that the ONLY long-shot used by the producers throughout the film was when they had gone to the beach. The producers refrained from using insane/long shots throughout the documentary because the environment was extremely compact, there was not much space. Personally, after all the sympathetic emotions that I had felt towards the children it was very relieving to see the children have some sort of fun during their time away from the red-light district, the way that the producers were able to capture the happiness of the children constructs a some-what of a relationship for the viewer. The mix of emotions that are received throughout watching this movie really connects the viewer with the children, leaving the viewer wondering whether the children have succeeded in their life with the help of the Kids with Cameras organisation. Through research I was able to find that the children who had left Calcutta with the Kids with Cameras organisation have managed great success in other countries, most of these children were truly saved by the

Show More
Related

  • There Are No Children Here By Alex Kotlowitz

    1114 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the book “There Are No Children Here” by Alex Kotlowitz, the author followed the lives of two young brothers (Lafayette and Pharoah) while they grew up in the harsh streets of Chicago in the late 1980’s. The author uses the story of the two boys’ lives to discuss the social divide in our very own society and to persuade readers that there is a major problem in “the projects” of the United States.

    Read More

  • Guests of the Sheik by Elizabeth Warnock

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Elizabeth Fernea entered El Nahra, Iraq as an innocent bystander. However, through her stay in the small Muslim village, she gained cultural insight to be passed on about not only El Nahra, but all foreign culture. As Fernea entered the village, she was viewed with a critical eye, ?It seemed to me that many times the women were talking about me, and not in a particularly friendly manner'; (70). The women of El Nahra could not understand why she was not with her entire family, and just her husband Bob. The women did not recognize her American lifestyle as proper. Conversely, BJ, as named by the village, and Bob did not view the El Nahra lifestyle as particularly proper either. They were viewing each other through their own cultural lenses. However, through their constant interaction, both sides began to recognize some benefits each culture possessed. It takes time, immersed in a particular community to understand the cultural ethos and eventually the community as a whole. Through Elizabeth Fernea?s ethnography on Iraq?s El Nahra village, we learn that all cultures have unique and equally important aspects.

    Read More

  • Smashed: Story Of A Drunken Girlhood by Koren Zailckas

    1545 Words  | 4 Pages

    Smashed: Story of a Drunken Girlhood is Koren Zailckas' account of life as an alcoholic. It traces her life from her first drink, when she was fourteen, to her last, at twenty-two; Smashed chronicles Zailckas' struggle with alcohol abuse, in an effort to explain the binge drinking phenomenon that plagues America's youth.

    Read More

  • Dead Girls Don T Lie By Jennifer Shaw Wolf

    2011 Words  | 5 Pages

    The book “Dead Girls Don’t Lie” written by Jennifer Shaw Wolf focuses on a variety of different ideas and topics, mostly fixating the murder of the main character’s best friend Rachel. With this also comes gang violence, lost and found relationships, and the fact that some people will go to great extents in order to keep a lethal secret from the public eye. Rachel and Jaycee were best friends up until 6 months before where the book started. But, an altercation between them caused the breakup of their long lasted friendship. It is soon found out that Rachel was shot through her bedroom window, which is at first suspected to be gang violence. When Jaycee doesn’t answer her phone on the night Rachel was murdered, she received a text that circulates

    Read More

  • The Dead Man By Jennifer Kahn

    1182 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kahn was a writer and contribute editor of magazines for wired and national geographic. Stripped for parts appeared in wired in 2003. Kahn was awarded award in 2004 for a journalism fellowship from the American Academy of Neurology. She wrote this short essay describing how organs can be transplanted. The Stripped essay is an- eye opener. Though not many people tend to think of how a body should be maintained after death. Jennifer Kahn depicts a dramatic image for her audience. She uses the terminology “the dead man “though technically correct, the patient is brain dead, but his or her heart is still beating.

    Read More

  • Inside Toyland by Christine L. Williams

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    Inside Toyland, written by Christine L. Williams, is a look into toy stores and the race, class, and gender issues. Williams worked about six weeks at two toy stores, Diamond Toys and Toy Warehouse, long enough to be able to detect patterns in store operations and the interactions between the workers and the costumers. She wanted to attempt to describe and analyze the rules that govern giant toy stores. Her main goal was to understand how shopping was socially organized and how it might be transformed to enhance the lives of workers. During the twentieth century, toy stores became bigger and helped suburbanization and deregulation. Specialty toy stores existed but sold mainly to adults, not to children. Men used to be the workers at toy stores until it changed and became feminized, racially mixed, part time, and temporary. As box stores came and conquered the land, toy stores started catering to children and offering larger selections at low prices. The box stores became powerful in the flip-flop of the power going from manufacturers to the retailers. Now, the retail giants determine what they will sell and at what price they will sell it.

    Read More

  • Social Reproduction in Society

    1000 Words  | 2 Pages

    Social reproduction is the reproduction of cultural, human, and social capital in society. Therefore languages, traditions, cultural values, education, food security, and social circles are passed down from one generation to the next through Karl Mannheim’s concept of “fresh contact” and through society as a whole. Social reproduction is effective when social structures and equality within society are maintained. Inequality, poverty, and social changes that force society to adapt can impede the process of social reproduction causing what is known as a “crisis in social reproduction” (Wells, 2009). Born into Brothels demonstrates a crisis of social reproduction that negatively impacts the lives of children living in Sonagachi as a result of globalization, neoliberal policies, poverty, lack of adequate education and social structures to pass down capital, and the stigma of prostitution. Additionally, it shows the need for children to make economic contributions to their families that prevent them from leaving the brothel.

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking in the United States

    939 Words  | 2 Pages

    Kara, Siddharth. Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery. New York: Columbia UP, 2009. 5. Print.

    Read More

  • Summary Of Sold By Patricia Mccormick

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    The word sold has a simple meaning. Yet, this simple word can cause complex and horrifying actions to take place that would make any human feel a sense of empathy. Human trafficking is one of many issues inside the United States but the effects are visibly more profound in third world countries. Innocent males and females, such as Lakshmi, are sold into prostitution, slavery and other traffic-related activities. Sold, written by Patricia McCormick, brings to light the horrors of human trafficking in India. Intellectual empathy, the process of placing your imaginative self in the shoes of another person, is used creatively and efficiently in this novel to carry out a point of view. The main character in this novel is a young girl from Nepal

    Read More

  • The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    Alexander Stowe is a twin, his brother is Aaron Stowe. Alex is an Unwanted, Aaron is a Wanted, and their parents are Necessaries. Alex is creative in a world where you can’t even see the entire sky, and military is the dream job for everyone and anyone. He should have been eliminated, just like all the unwanteds should have been. He instead comes upon Artimè, where he trains as a magical warrior- after a while. When he was still in basic training, and his friends were not, he got upset, he wants to be the leader, the one everyone looks up to.

    Read More

  • Teen Pregnancy, By Hadi Danawi, Zenobia Bryant And Tala Hasbini

    2078 Words  | 5 Pages

    The first article is by Hadi Danawi, Zenobia Bryant and Tala Hasbini and is entitled Targeting Unintended Teen Pregnancy in the U.S.. This article is all about the numbers and statistics. The authors state that we should take the statistics that we know and use those as a jumping off point on where to direct resources. If we know of a community where there is a higher rate of teen pregnancies, then we can go into those communities and inform the teens of the resources available in the area and offer the teens sexual education classes. The authors also suggested that the best way to end teen pregnancy is not to necessarily target the issue directly but we should target differences within our own communities first. The article also examines which individuals may be more apt to have a teen pregnancy verses others.

    Read More

  • Mens Men And Women's Women By Steve Craig

    1526 Words  | 4 Pages

    Common sense seems to dictate that commercials just advertise products. But in reality, advertising is a multi-headed beast that targets specific genders, races, ages, etc. In “Men’s Men & Women’s Women”, author Steve Craig focuses on one head of the beast: gender. Craig suggests that, “Advertisers . . . portray different images to men and women in order to exploit the different deep seated motivations and anxieties connected to gender identity.” In other words, advertisers manipulate consumers’ fantasies to sell their product. In this essay, I will be analyzing four different commercials that focuses on appealing to specific genders.

    Read More

  • Born Into Brothel Essay

    1228 Words  | 3 Pages

    Because of blatant injustices and at times an unwillingness or know how to bring about change by the adults in the community. The denial of medical treatment, lazy elected officials to retrieve legal documents, unwanted children in schools because they were or thought to be products of prostitution, and thought to carried diseases were just a few of the obsticals. Giving the children the opportunity to learn how to use a camera gave the community a first hand look at their surroundings, the life that was being modeled before them, those outside of the community a glimpse at the injustices, lack of empathy,and isolation these people were forced to endure on a daily basis. though their community was not the cleanest, the education was not the best, and housing was crowded.The people managed to provide housing, food, clothing, and dependability to these children in the face of what seemed to be insurmountable odds. The pictures also helped to create resources otherwise denied to these people. Private schools began to take in some of the

    Read More

  • Brief Summary And Symbolism In Lakshmi's Life

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    Over 2 million children are sold into sex trafficking each year (Global). Sold gives the eye-opening narrative of just one of them. I followed Lakshmi through her journey as she learned about life outside her small hometown in Nepal. She loved her mother and baby brother and worked hard to keep up with her repulsive step-father’s gambling habit. When given the opportunity to take a job that could provide for her family, Lakshmi accepted the offer. Unknowingly, she walked into the hands of horrible people who led her blindly on the path of prostitution. Discovering her fate, Lakshmi latched onto hope when all seemed bleak. After months of endless abuse, some Americans gave her the opportunity to escape her situation, and, thankfully, she took

    Read More

  • The Young Couple by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, Country Lovers by Nadine Gordimer and Veronica by Adewale Maja-Pearce

    1398 Words  | 3 Pages

    “The Young Couple” by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, “Country Lovers” by Nadine Gordimer and “Veronica” by Adewale Maja-Pearce

    Read More

More about Born Into Brothels By Zana Briski And Ross Kauffman

Open Document