I can't believe this guy and his human rights awesome sometimes
...just managed to watch Kreuzzug des Weibes (The Wives' Crusade)--well, skimming, because it was triggery as hell, but I am shaking and crying now. It's that early pro-choice film from 1926 with Connie in.
It's absolutely harrowing to watch for so many reasons--lots of stuff about how society (read: men use women's bodies and how women don't have the right to decide what happens to them) and with all kinds of visions of women who have died because of backstreet abortions and yeah, rape features, of course and obviously we get a woman who's PTSDd the fuck out and just... gah. Connie plays a judge who's been anti-choice all the time even if one of his colleagues constantly educates him about the laws being unjust concerning women's reproductive rights. But then when his wife gets raped he has to change his mind and he resigns because he finds the laws so morally corrupt that he can't bring himself to act as a judge any more.
But you know what the most harrowing thing about the movie is? It's not the wife's PTSD. She seems calmer towards the end of the film. The most shocking thing is watching this guy crumble to fucking pieces at what has happened to his wife and how he has to abandon everything he's ever believed in and how he has to deal with the guilt of having condemned all those women that had gone before. It's like he's the one who's been raped. He is shaking and trembling and just falling apart and JFC, Connie's acting--and the fact that THIS WAS FROM FUCKING 1926 AND THAT THERE WERE MEN WHO ACTUALLY TOOK A FUCKING STAND FOR WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND HOW MANY MEN GIVE A SHIT OR UNDERSTAND EVEN THESE DAYS and I--
And then there's this guy. In 1926. Horrified.
And my heart breaks for this guy every fucking day because, just, wow. He's a hero. And it's so very sad that even these days, this shit doesn't change unless the men take a stand, too. Usually, even for the nice guys, the option today seems to be to just take a couple of steps back from the entire issue and say that it's up to the women to decide, and while that's all very well, society's still ruled by men. So any man who doesn't just diplomatically withdraw but actually raises his voice for women's rights and tells other guys not to be fucking wankers, to not rape, to not try and force women's bodies to do things against their will or judge us for what we do or don't do with our uteruses is a hero of mine.
JFC. 1926. I'm still crying a bit. This was around the time my maternal grandmother was born--an unwanted, illegitimate child, and she was given up for adoption because you couldn't possibly have an abortion or be an unmarried mother at the time. It's not too long ago. I still feel the effects in the fuckage-uppage she passed on to my mum, because adopted kids are troubled as fuck. So even something that took place ages ago still has repercussions today. This shit changes way too slowly. So whatever people can do today matters a hell of a lot.
But... seriously. 1926. When even today, men leave their wives and girlfriends if they've been raped because they think they've been soiled or that they've "become psychos" because these guys simply don't get PTSD. And then. This guy. This guy is shaking and falling apart from the pain he feels in sheer empathy and just does it so convincingly. Conrad Veidt crumbling into pieces because he has realised the crushing horror that is the patriarchy. Jesus fucking Christ. Whatever you may think about my batshit lusting over the guy, he was genuinely so fucking amazing I can't even fucking PROCESS it sometimes.
*cries some more and I don't mean this ironically because JFC*
It's absolutely harrowing to watch for so many reasons--lots of stuff about how society (read: men use women's bodies and how women don't have the right to decide what happens to them) and with all kinds of visions of women who have died because of backstreet abortions and yeah, rape features, of course and obviously we get a woman who's PTSDd the fuck out and just... gah. Connie plays a judge who's been anti-choice all the time even if one of his colleagues constantly educates him about the laws being unjust concerning women's reproductive rights. But then when his wife gets raped he has to change his mind and he resigns because he finds the laws so morally corrupt that he can't bring himself to act as a judge any more.
But you know what the most harrowing thing about the movie is? It's not the wife's PTSD. She seems calmer towards the end of the film. The most shocking thing is watching this guy crumble to fucking pieces at what has happened to his wife and how he has to abandon everything he's ever believed in and how he has to deal with the guilt of having condemned all those women that had gone before. It's like he's the one who's been raped. He is shaking and trembling and just falling apart and JFC, Connie's acting--and the fact that THIS WAS FROM FUCKING 1926 AND THAT THERE WERE MEN WHO ACTUALLY TOOK A FUCKING STAND FOR WOMEN'S REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS AND HOW MANY MEN GIVE A SHIT OR UNDERSTAND EVEN THESE DAYS and I--
And then there's this guy. In 1926. Horrified.
And my heart breaks for this guy every fucking day because, just, wow. He's a hero. And it's so very sad that even these days, this shit doesn't change unless the men take a stand, too. Usually, even for the nice guys, the option today seems to be to just take a couple of steps back from the entire issue and say that it's up to the women to decide, and while that's all very well, society's still ruled by men. So any man who doesn't just diplomatically withdraw but actually raises his voice for women's rights and tells other guys not to be fucking wankers, to not rape, to not try and force women's bodies to do things against their will or judge us for what we do or don't do with our uteruses is a hero of mine.
JFC. 1926. I'm still crying a bit. This was around the time my maternal grandmother was born--an unwanted, illegitimate child, and she was given up for adoption because you couldn't possibly have an abortion or be an unmarried mother at the time. It's not too long ago. I still feel the effects in the fuckage-uppage she passed on to my mum, because adopted kids are troubled as fuck. So even something that took place ages ago still has repercussions today. This shit changes way too slowly. So whatever people can do today matters a hell of a lot.
But... seriously. 1926. When even today, men leave their wives and girlfriends if they've been raped because they think they've been soiled or that they've "become psychos" because these guys simply don't get PTSD. And then. This guy. This guy is shaking and falling apart from the pain he feels in sheer empathy and just does it so convincingly. Conrad Veidt crumbling into pieces because he has realised the crushing horror that is the patriarchy. Jesus fucking Christ. Whatever you may think about my batshit lusting over the guy, he was genuinely so fucking amazing I can't even fucking PROCESS it sometimes.
*cries some more and I don't mean this ironically because JFC*