Water and It's Implications
In creating a film like Water, Deepa Mehta had felt so strongly about the importance of conveying to others that there is a world that few many know about, but that people are being severely affected by. To me, this film represents an idea that we are controlled by our society in many ways. Though I have not experienced the extreme oppression that the women in Water did, I recognize that there is a certain level of power and authority given to individuals who are not always making decisions for the good of all people under them.
So we come to the question of who is right and who is wrong? What is to be trusted, law or faith? I think that within this film it is obvious that there is a case of pointing fingers and those who are weak under the faith will be oppressed. The audience is left to deal with who really wins in this film.
At first in the film I was angry that the women did not choose to speak out and stand up for themselves. But after I had watched the entire film I realized that the characters in the film were so conditioned out of tradition that they were almost oppressing themselves unknowingly. They have lived in a culture that is strong in its traditions and know the consequences and hardships set forth for them. But they have also been lied to. Though some of the women sensed the urgency to remove themselves from this lifestyle, I never really got the feeling that any of them thought that they deserved a better lifestyle. They knew that there were better things out there, but not necessarily that those things were acceptable for them to have.
Overall, I feel that Mehta was asking the audience to think about where blame can fall and who it should really being falling upon. She does not point fingers at who is to blame herself, but rather leaves the audience to make their own decision based upon their personal feelings on the issue. I find this quality in a filmmaker to be most valuable because they are not making a decision with their film, but rather encouraging a decision because of how the film is laid out.