Saving Face While Disfiguring Another

The documentary Saving Face  was extremely well done. It took an important and understated problem and created a personal connection between the viewer and the victims by the use of simple film editing techniques. I enjoy ‘homemade’ film productions because they get down to the nitty-gritty without glamorizing scenes and facts. This film brought many emotions of sadness, anger, but most of all a better understanding of the world we live in. There is this common idea of getting even with someone, even if it is inhumane or evil; all that matters to people is their feeling of satisfaction when they hurt someone as much, if not more, than they hurt them. It is a sick world we live in.

                As I listen to the stories each women told about why their acid attacks happened, it always related to a man pouring acid on a women. All the men had the same sick reason for attacking the woman, rejection and anger. So instead of walking away and finding a women that wanted them, they decided if they were going to be rejected, so should the women. By pouring acid on them, they not only disfigured their features that most of society views as ‘ugly’ and lead to rejection, but also ruined their self-esteem. This highlights the idea of getting even. When the men were questioned about the attacks, they would create some irrational story to accuse the women of being the reason, whether it be “she’s crazy”, “she has high blood pressure”, “she got angry”, etc. Men never took responsibility for their actions – sound familiar? When it came to punishment, the women wanted to get even with the men for destroying their life by sentencing them with life in prison. I do agree with this punishment, but it still shows that there is a never ending cycle of trying to ‘win’ and unfortunately win in this sense is creating the worst punishment for another person.