It is timely to talk about such a work about women's rights protection on the occasion of the March 8th Women's Day. "Sexual harassment" has been around since the 1980s with the liberation of women and the decline of sexual morality. It has gradually become a troubling social problem, and it just so happened that "sexual harassment" was a hot topic in China last year. "Northern Wind and Cloud" has entered the attention of global audiences, and the social significance of its subject matter far exceeds the significance of the film itself, such as shooting skills and music production.
The film is adapted from a true incident in the 1980s. This is the first successful sexual harassment case in American history, which is an epoch-making milestone. Charlize Theron's single mother Josie Amis, who is unbearable for sexual harassment at the mine, joins other female workers who have been treated the same way to appeal to the District Court. Josie's prototype Louise Jensen and 14 other female workers finally received nearly $1 million in compensation after 11 years of complaints. The film was inspired by the non-fiction book "Class Actions: The Story of Louise Jensen and the Milestones in Changing Sexual Harassment Laws," which has been widely read since its publication.
It is said that although the film received a warm response in the film critic circle and received rave reviews, the box office results were not satisfactory. There is something puzzling, but thinking of an encounter with Qiu Renzong, a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, seems to answer a little doubt. In October last year, he went to Xiangshan on the outskirts of Beijing to attend a conference. He said that during the interval between his presentations, "someone asked me what I was doing recently, and I replied, anti-sexual harassment. The whole audience burst into laughter, and they all thought it was funny, not serious," which made him embarrassed. "It shows the attitude of most people towards sexual harassment". This kind of contempt and disapproval is also described in the film. When Josh became more and more intolerable to the wantonness of the male miners and stood up to resist, the male miners laughed at this, thinking that this woman was a lunatic and unreasonable. Even in the face of the obvious facts, they acted to cover up each other (Bob tried to rape and beat Josie in the powder room, and when she questioned her in the cafeteria, another miner actually said that Bob had been with him all afternoon together as an alibi!). They, including the female workers in the mine, are accustomed to being numb to sexual harassment. After such a woman came to be commonplace, everyone rejected it. And to the onlookers, what a heart-wrenching ignorance this is.
In the final analysis, there is another very important reason, which has also led to the difficulty of "anti-sexual harassment" legislation so far, that is, how can the definition of sexual harassment be called sexual harassment? Many people have the same feeling that coworkers are joking, saying that meat jokes are just flirting, and they are also good for physical and mental health. In August of this year, the revised "Women's Rights and Interests Protection Law" first included provisions to protect women from sexual harassment. However, how to define sexual harassment and how to establish an effective anti-sexual harassment system has become the next practical issue. "Sexual harassment exists in all countries, in all occupations, and in all economic behavior," said Connie Connie, an American lawyer and director of the International Labor Organization in Beijing. She believes that as long as sexual harassment in the workplace is not stopped, women cannot have real meaning. equal rights, treatment and status.
Sexual harassment in the workplace is the most prevalent and most revolting, as women miners worry: “We need this job.” Women are still in a disadvantaged position in the workplace, finding a job that is enough to support themselves and even their family and It's not easy, so faced with the choice between the panic of losing their job and the sexual harassment, they would rather endure the vulgarity of their mouths and the embarrassment of being pinched in their private parts. Before real life, the choice came to a conclusion, and the substantive inequality of women's status was still the root cause. Today, after we have called for equality between men and women for so many years, it really makes people feel helpless.
The father of his daughter who has never forgiven his unmarried daughter finally had a touching scene when he saw Josie endure all the censure and pressure at all costs in order to safeguard his rights and defend his dignity: he was among the booing miners, Bravely stood up and said, "I've been a miner all my life, and I feel ashamed about this job for the first time today. The only thing I'm not ashamed of is my daughter Josie!" The topic of sex has never been a topic for women. Completely free from shame and guilt, so far every woman who has bravely stood up to the public and exposed the fact that she was sexually harassed is awe-inspiring. Regardless of whether they win or lose, they are all heroes in promoting equality between men and women and a sound legal system!
I believe that since the film director Nikki Caro decided to make this film to challenge sexual harassment, it should not bear the brunt of the issue of whether she will win or not. With a sense of social morality and social responsibility, he tried to use art to awaken the public's awareness of rights protection, just as he showed the same humanistic care in "The Whale Rider". The sincere and persistent performance of South African beauty Charlize Theron also showed everyone an excellent and great actor with conscience and kindness. Many data show that she never lost her appearance during the filming process, and she worked hard to get close to the role. Trying to figure out the role, she should be devoted to this character when she loves it. So it makes perfect sense that she's a favorite for Best Actress at this year's Oscars.
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