Wadjda is a beautiful movie that speaks of female victimization in a culture that uses false notions of truth and propriety to achieve its purpose of subverting and controlling women. The question that follows is by whom and for whose benefit? Interestingly, the suggested answer is that subversion is performed by women for men's benefit.
The movie reveals the intricacies of the process of subversion where no male figure in particular is brought to the forefront to do the job but a culture of women who internalized masculine values take over and start subverting the younger generation of women in their world, the world that the movie takes interest in and represents.
The biggest advocate of such subversion is the school headmistress, who mercilessly condemns and labels young innocent girls with indecency and sin. If they play in the schoolyard while men workers are structuring a building at a distance, then the girls are described as indecent. If girls are painting stars and figures on their legs and are afraid of the soiling practice, they are suspected and wrongly accused of committing a larger sin, lesbianism. The stiff headmistress does not hesitate in announcing their names to the school community without verifying the accusation. The mild defense of the falsely accused students is swept aside by the mistress adamant condemnation. Her ultimatum is that holding hands is forbidden between girls in the school.
The headmistress' distorted notion of right and wrong is also evident her retrieval of the monetary prize she gave Wadjda, the protagonist of the movie. Wadjda worked hard to win this prize but lost it to charity upon innocently declaring she wanted to use it to get a bike. The headmistress accused Wadjda of violating decency for harboring such an intention and denied her the prize. Under the claim that any girl who fears for her honor should never ride a bike, the headmistress sends the money to charity without waiting for the consent of the prize winner.
The culture of women that internalize masculine teachings and parrot false notions of what a woman can and cannot do includes Wadjda's mother who allows herself to be victimized by such culture and constantly attempts to impose its values on her daughter. The mother's victimization is evident in her acceptance of a harsh life with a husband who is absent most of the time. She takes care of herself, her daughter and the house. She pays for expenses while he grudges small things for his daughter. He entertains guests and she cooks for them. In addition to all responsibilities, Wadjda's mother has a job to which she makes a daily trip of an hour and a half drive with a bad-tempered driver in an unconditioned car in hot weather. A more convenient job in a nearby hospital offers itself but she cannot take it because men mix with women in such work sites. She interprets her husband's jealous possessiveness as love and accepts her lot because she loves him. He is the first and last man in her life.
Wadjda is the only promise in a culture of victimized women that are constantly on the go to victimize the next generation of younger women for masculine benefit. Her attitude is marked by her insistence to achieve her dream of getting a bike in order to compete with a neighboring boy who is brought up into man's superiority over women but gradually converts into admiring his female friend by deciding to marry her when he grows up.
A more significant support comes from Wadjda's mother who buys her the bike she dreams of at the end. But under what conditions does this occur, for the mother has always echoed the culture by telling Wadjda that she can't get one; girls are not supposed to ride bikes or else they will never conceive? The mother actually receives a blow that becomes an eye opener. Her husband, Wadjda's father, marries another woman to bear him a male son that Wadjda's mother could not get him following complications in her first pregnancy and baby delivery. The mother finally realizes her own victimization and her wrong parroting of false cultural values. There and then she decides to give her daughter the longed for bike, the key to freedom.
A beautiful movie that objectively and subtly exposes and condemns cultural victimization of women and rewards a young girl's quest for freedom. The bike becomes a symbol of such freedom as Wadjda rides it fearlessly and boldly to the main road.
The movie reveals the intricacies of the process of subversion where no male figure in particular is brought to the forefront to do the job but a culture of women who internalized masculine values take over and start subverting the younger generation of women in their world, the world that the movie takes interest in and represents.
The biggest advocate of such subversion is the school headmistress, who mercilessly condemns and labels young innocent girls with indecency and sin. If they play in the schoolyard while men workers are structuring a building at a distance, then the girls are described as indecent. If girls are painting stars and figures on their legs and are afraid of the soiling practice, they are suspected and wrongly accused of committing a larger sin, lesbianism. The stiff headmistress does not hesitate in announcing their names to the school community without verifying the accusation. The mild defense of the falsely accused students is swept aside by the mistress adamant condemnation. Her ultimatum is that holding hands is forbidden between girls in the school.
The headmistress' distorted notion of right and wrong is also evident her retrieval of the monetary prize she gave Wadjda, the protagonist of the movie. Wadjda worked hard to win this prize but lost it to charity upon innocently declaring she wanted to use it to get a bike. The headmistress accused Wadjda of violating decency for harboring such an intention and denied her the prize. Under the claim that any girl who fears for her honor should never ride a bike, the headmistress sends the money to charity without waiting for the consent of the prize winner.
The culture of women that internalize masculine teachings and parrot false notions of what a woman can and cannot do includes Wadjda's mother who allows herself to be victimized by such culture and constantly attempts to impose its values on her daughter. The mother's victimization is evident in her acceptance of a harsh life with a husband who is absent most of the time. She takes care of herself, her daughter and the house. She pays for expenses while he grudges small things for his daughter. He entertains guests and she cooks for them. In addition to all responsibilities, Wadjda's mother has a job to which she makes a daily trip of an hour and a half drive with a bad-tempered driver in an unconditioned car in hot weather. A more convenient job in a nearby hospital offers itself but she cannot take it because men mix with women in such work sites. She interprets her husband's jealous possessiveness as love and accepts her lot because she loves him. He is the first and last man in her life.
Wadjda is the only promise in a culture of victimized women that are constantly on the go to victimize the next generation of younger women for masculine benefit. Her attitude is marked by her insistence to achieve her dream of getting a bike in order to compete with a neighboring boy who is brought up into man's superiority over women but gradually converts into admiring his female friend by deciding to marry her when he grows up.
A more significant support comes from Wadjda's mother who buys her the bike she dreams of at the end. But under what conditions does this occur, for the mother has always echoed the culture by telling Wadjda that she can't get one; girls are not supposed to ride bikes or else they will never conceive? The mother actually receives a blow that becomes an eye opener. Her husband, Wadjda's father, marries another woman to bear him a male son that Wadjda's mother could not get him following complications in her first pregnancy and baby delivery. The mother finally realizes her own victimization and her wrong parroting of false cultural values. There and then she decides to give her daughter the longed for bike, the key to freedom.
A beautiful movie that objectively and subtly exposes and condemns cultural victimization of women and rewards a young girl's quest for freedom. The bike becomes a symbol of such freedom as Wadjda rides it fearlessly and boldly to the main road.