Movie Review - Mustang

Mustang *** (out of 5) (PG-13) If you’re in the mood for relevant social commentary almost guaranteed to make you angry, this drama is your ticket, and the polar opposite of the feelgood holiday fare on many surrounding screens. We meet five sisters on the verge of womanhood, living happily in a Turkish village. Their innocent play with male classmates after school is viewed by local prudes as intolerably lewd. The backlash drastically changes everything about their existence. No more school; confined to their home with nothing but domestic tutelage; they’re subjected to medical exams for chastity; marriages are arranged for the older ones, with the same fate awaiting the younger. All dreams of careers, or ever seeing the bright lights of Istanbul, are dashed by a stern father who feels nothing but shame over what most of us would consider harmless, youthful exuberance, by daughters we’d love to call our own. 

At first blush, this might be seen as anti-Islam. It’s not. Dogma isn’t a major part of these proceedings. What happens to these girls is symbolic of much broader cultural patterns around the globe. Hardcore fundamentalist sects of many major religions similarly subjugate their women, sometimes with more severe measures than depicted here. This film makes a powerful statement against male domination in the guise of whatever theology passes in that community for justification. It happens in the US and Europe, not just the Middle East or Africa.

Genital mutilations, spousal abuse without recourse, denial of education and employment, “honor killings” and on and on beyond what should be tolerated in any so-called civilized society. Oppression of women comes from the same brand of willful ignorance that was denouncing valid science as heresy since long before Galileo’s ostracism for realizing the Earth revolved around the Sun because he relied on a telescope, rather than the a certain book. Ireland’s appalling banishment of unwed mothers to church-run, prison-style workhouses continued into the 1990s.

Freedom of religion is not absolute, even under our Constitution. Some dangerous rituals (human sacrifice, snake handling, etc.) have long been deemed illegal because of overriding concerns for public safety. Films like this show us we need to move that line farther towards equality for all. How about that for a worthy New Year’s resolution? (12/25/15)