A Look Into the Cultural World of Water

I'm not sure where to begin with this film. I think that Water may be my favorite film watched in class ever (with the exception of The 400 Blows - that film is a type of awesomeness all on its own).  One of the aspects of this film that I really appreciate is that we see taboo facets of one entity.  *Please be patient as I try to make sense*  I don't know about you, but in my humanity I tend to generalize and group things; this is dangerous.  When I think of India I think of Hinduism.  When I think of Hinduism I instinctively think of the many gods, and I think of the many festivals.  I think about striving for enlightenment. What I don't think about are children being forced to marry.  I don't think about the women who are stripped of their life because they have widowed.  So, when I said that Water gives viewers a look at the hidden/ taboo facets of one entity what I am referring to is that this film has taken the Indian/ Hindu culture and stripped it of the popularized, maybe even glamorized aspects we (Westerners) are used to seeing, and has instead handed us a look into a world within the Indian/ Hindu world.  This is the world of womanhood.  This is the world of childhood.  This is the world of power.  This is the world of order.  This is the world of tradition.  This is the world of god.  No, this is the world of: this is what god says.

Something that troubled me as I watched this film was the inconsistency and even hypocrisy coming from those in power.  Brahmans are supposed to be the most enlightened of all, but they have sex with widowed women - even widowed girls.  In the ashram (the widow house) Madhumati (the fat old lady) is a stickler about the rest of the widows following Hindu law, but she prostitutes the young ones in order to survive. 

Water is great.  It troubles the heart, but it opens its eyes and ears to an overlooked world.