The Magdalene Sisters

I watched an interesting and disturbing movie last night. It ended rather sadly, with hardly a note of hope. I cannot even imagine what those women felt or endured. I am once again thankful to live in this era. It's estimated that over 10,000 women served time in these laundries.

"The Magdalene Sisters" is a movie about the infamous Magdalene Asylums in Ireland. Most damning is this quote from the CBSnews article: "When the last laundries finally closed, most of the Magdalenes had nowhere to go. Many of them now reside in group homes and convents around the country. For example, a convent in Dublin still holds some women now being cared for by the same nuns who once confined them." In the movie, you see some of these older institutionalized women, one of whom gets sick and dies. One of the main characters, Bernadette, tells this dying woman that "no one gives a shite" about her and that she should just hurry up and die.

And another girl, Crispina, is sent to a madhouse after a scene in which she claims publicly that a priest is not a man of God. Well, hell no, he wasn't a man of God: he'd been forcing Crispina, who seemed to be mentally retarded, to fellate him and have sex with him.

This movie reminded me of "Rabbit-Proof Fence." I just don't understand this type of mindset. I guess I'll never understand how people can single out people who are different, strip them of all rights, and then toss them into slavery without a second thought. Granted, "Magadalene Sisters" paints all nuns and priests with the same brush, rather than showing their side of the story. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Read this review/commentary for an alternative opinion. And here's another review worth reading. Here is a link to a survivor's website.