The Taliban ruled the majority of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001. Normal citizens welcomed the Islamic militants in hopes that peace could be restored to the lawless land, instead a strict Sharia law was imposed on their subjects.
The burqa was draped over every woman and education was banned for any females over the age of eight. The Koran was the only book allowed them. Male doctors could not treat unchaperoned women. Public floggings were routine and stonings for adultery and seduction became almost a sport.
Under their guidance Afghanistan entered a period as dark as that of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and the 2003 movie OSAMA captured the grim situation with its portrayal of a young girl forced to become a male to support her ailing mother. The 12 year-old girl has no name. She calls herself ‘Osama’ to get a job for a baker. Her cross-dressing is challenged by a homeless urchin, who extorts her for small change. The threat from the Taliban is ever-present and ‘Osama’ bad luck worsens when she is press-ganged into the a company of child soldiers.
The director, a native Afghan, delves into the subject with an unblinking eye. There is no happy ending. ‘Osama’s femininity is betrayed by her first menstrual period. She is condemned to death by stoning only to end up in the harem of a senior Taliban leader.
Films like this make a strong case for the fight against fanaticism.
That of the Taliban and the religious right of America.
Naked girls forever.
To watch OSAMA please go to this URL
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqhfm-sLCxY
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