On September 19, our group went to go see the movie Wadjda. Wadjda is about a girl (Wadjda) who wants to buy a bike. Wadjda lives in Saudi Arabia and in her culture, a bike is meant to be only a boys toy. Being an innocent but rebellious character, Wadjda goes on a quest to find 800 riyals to buy the bike she would like. She enters the Koran contest at her school, which promises 1,000 riyals as a reward. Along the way she faces many different conflicts with her family, friends at school and conforming to societies given rules for women. This film, the first to be directed by a Saudi Arabian woman, is extremely powerful, and I loved it. It gives one an idea of what life is like in Saudi Arabia. Even though we have some idea, one could not really know what it’s like. For example, a women is not aloud to be seen when a man is working. Many other little things like this really showed me what life is like in Saudi Arabia.
Through Wadjda is striving to be herself, we learn the struggles and rules that young women have to face in Saudi Arabia. Because she does not want to conform to society, she is shunned by her teachers and peers. This movie is not at all intense, inappropriate or too depressing and it is a perfect way to get across the message of all the rights women are deprived of. The thing that struck me the most about the movie was the simplicity of it. The fact that a story could be so simple, so compelling, and so powerful really shows a future of what women in the media can be. This movie is not only entertaining, but it educates and gives one a whole new perspective on what women in the media can be.