In her post ‘Prostitutes of God:’ Film Mocks, Belittles Sex Workers, Bebe Loff, explains that:
‘Last week, four episodes of a film entitled Prostitutes of God were posted on VBS.TV, which is owned by Vice Magazine. Prostitutes of God producer Sarah Harris, spent time with members of Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad (meaning ‘Prostitutes’ Freedom from Injustice’) or “VAMP,” [who] let her into their lives, their families and their workplace. The result? Films that are inaccurate and misrepresentative, and insulting to the people who agreed to participate and to the Hindu culture.’
The ‘Prostitutes of God’ film is part of the Vice Guide to Travel where ‘correspondents from VBS and Vice magazine are dispatched around the world to visit the planet’s most dangerous and weird destinations.’
This afternoon I didn’t have 30 minutes to watch the film that was being criticized in the post above. I did have 3 and a half minutes to watch the video response (below) from some of the sex workers and their family members who were part of the documentary.
Their reaction is one of anger and feelings of betrayal. They denounce the filmmaker (Sarah Harris) for laughing at them, making fun of them, disrespecting them, misinterpreting their stories and making public judgment calls on their religious practices.
They say ‘… Your analysis is wrong and we do not agree with it. Who is Sarah Harris? What is the research that informs her story?’‘ They ask ‘Who gave you the right to laugh?‘ They wonder ‘If I had come to your town and insulted your gods would you have liked it?‘
Tonight I watched the 30 minute film. To be honest, it doesn’t strike me as any worse than a lot of other stories told about people from developing communities or exotic or marginalized groups. We see these kinds of stories all the time, where people are held up to view with sensationalism, superiority and for purposeful shock value.
What is interesting about this case is that the community saw it and reacted publicly. It made me wonder, what is the back story? What steps were taken by the filmmaker to secure informed consent? What were members of the different communities expecting the film to be about? What about the local organization, what were they expecting? Where was the communication breakdown and what steps were taken to try to avoid it? What ownership of the content of the film and the storyline did the community members have? Did they expect to be paid? Were they put at high risk or otherwise threatened when the filmmaker released her film? Did the filmmaker think about the ramifications that her film would carry for the communities where she had filmed? What was the filmmaker’s purpose for telling this story?
I think we are going to see more and more of this type of scenario. I hope it will force media practices and ethics to be updated, more respectful and more legal when filming marginalized or disenfranchised groups in ‘developing countries’.
A third film about the Devadasi
I know of a third film about the Devadasi. I saw this one several years ago, and it was made by a group of Indian child journalists as part of a child media project. In that case, the children successfully used the film at the community level to press for compliance with established laws against the Devadasi practice and to discuss culturally appropriate alternatives.
I’m a big fan of local activists using media tools to push for social change on their own terms.
Here’s Insight Share’s great rights-based approach to participatory video guidebook.
Related posts on Wait… What
I felt the same way when I saw the documentary. In fact I realized I’d seen it months ago and hadn’t thought too much of it at that time either.
For me the biggest takeaway is something you’ve mentioned before in you post Good Job. The time has passed when charities or documentarians can say whatever they want about the developing world. With the increased access to the internet everyone now has a voice and can and will speak out against unfair representations of themselves, their communities, their lives. And this is a good thing.
Hi,
I completely agree with all the arguments that you have put across, but i would also like to mention that there can be counter side to this whole episode too.
I am a native of India, and understand how things might take a turn here. Although i have not seen the film, it takes a lot of efforts to get these people on camera. If someone has got them on the camera to speak about the film and the injustices done by the film , it is a possibility that its in interest of certain groups there.
I am not saying this is fact, but just a possibility. One of my friends has made a film on Devdasi’s and the tortures and injustices done to them in the name of god, its a true picture. I dont know how the film laughs at these people or mock at them, but i would realy like to see the filmmakers point of view and look at both sides of the coin.
Deepika
Hi Deepika, I agree with you, which is why I wondered about the ‘back story.’ I also sensed that there was some kind of complicated situation, conflict or communication breakdown happening that provoked the response from the sex workers, and I wondered if they had been manipulated somehow. I do think that Harris was neglectful about the privacy issues and local implications of making her film though, and that the framing of Vice TV’s show (the most dangerous and weird places) is judgmental and insulting to those being filmed. I think if filmmakers had more respect for those that they are filming and if they had to share their films with them, they might film in a different way. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
Hi Deepika,Saundra and Linda.
I am Ritesh.I am an activist and a filmmaker.I think Deepika is talking about me in the post.
Recently i completed a film on Ritual sex slavery(Devadasi system) and caste based(Bedini system in Madhya Pradesh) commercial sexual exploitation of women and children in India.
I really want to watch Harris’s film now.
I am totally agree with Linda.You have to respect the people whom you are filming and thats really important thing that we documentary filmmakers have to understand.
They have faith on you,they trust on you so they are telling their stories in front of camera. Believe me i spend years with them so they can faith on me..They are like my family now..After completing my movie, i first screened this movie to the people who were the part of the film..
I am posting the link of the movie “The Holy Wives”.Please go through it and if you want to watch this movie,feel free to email me,my email id is ritesh_films@ymail.com
http://sites.google.com/site/theholywivessite/
Hi Ritesh – thank you so much for your comment. I’ll check out the website and will be in touch by email! Linda
[…] of you who followed the “prostitutes of God” video scandal will appreciate Ashley’s resilience and her refusal to […]
El arte y el hombre ante todo es la vida, los pueblos se conocen por sus hombres trabajadores, cultos, científicos, intelectuales, deportistas y artistas, esta es la herramienta en el nuevo milenio para la construcción del hombre y la sociedad, sin distingo de clases étnica, política o religión, no más armas, ni drogas, ni malversación, sí a todo lo que construye verdad, transparencia, voluntad, y dignidad, corresponde a los gobiernos, autoridades con sus pueblos y el pueblo con el gobierno, sin luchas de clases, sin opresores y oprimidos, solamente el hombre y la sociedad. (El hombre ante todo es el hombre)
Why India’s ‘devadasi’ girls face wretched life in the name of religion…
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[…] was released, sex workers portrayed in the documentary were offended by how they were represented. They banded together to create a response video that quickly spread through social media channels. This type of response […]
[…] released, sex workers portrayed in the documentary were offended by how they were represented.They banded together to create a response video that quickly spread through social media channels. This type of […]
Hi Linda,
It’s kind of late now to be responding to a post that you wrote in 2010, but still thought I should. About a month ago, I was part of a team filming ex-devadasis who had turned entrepreneurs, in order to spread awareness about them. It was then that I realized exactly how much damage one “sensational” video could cause. These women have limited employment opportunities due to the stigma attached to the perception of their jobs. When folks watch a video which portray them as sex-workers who have an easy source of income, they do not think they need a hand out of a system that they are trying to do everything to escape from! We did create a video as part of a campaign, which you could check out over here:
Feel free to email me if you have any questions/comments.