Introduction
Caramel movie, discusses the societal challenges that women face. Society has a way of judging women by making them live up to some standards. In the movie Caramel, the women characters are trying to change this perception. They are enlightening people on the fact that women should not be contempt with being homemakers. These women engage in activities that are not acceptable in the society. They date married men and fellow women; they are in a clique, something that is associated with men. The women are out to stop the stereotypical cultures, and beliefs.
Themes used in the movie caramel
In the movie caramel, the theme of love friendship and trust has been used. The movie talks about the value of friendship. Women in the movie belonged to dissimilar backgrounds with some being Christians while others Muslims. They interacted freely among themselves when they met in a beauty parlor. The friendship they formed helped them to forget the problems they faced in life. The women had different visions and each of them had her own baggage.
Layale a character in the movie was involved with a married man. Her friends did not judge her; they talked freely about this with her. In the society, getting involved with a married man is not something that a parent never takes lightly, with one being labeled a home wrecker. Jamale is divorced with two kids, but she is so much into her looks despite her age. Her friends in the movie do not find this alarming or wrong. In the society, a divorced woman is a disgrace, despite the rising number of divorcees. If the woman is into beauty products at an old age, and gives people a negative impression about her, she gets a negative nametag. Nisrine is a Muslim woman and Muslims are known to value virginity.
She confides in her friends that she is not a virgin and they help her get her hymen stitched up. Her friends save her from disgrace that her society imparts for women, who are not virgins. In the cultural set up, this act is punishable. Parents of the girl marry her off to an old man because a Muslim girl who is not a virgin on her wedding day is inglorious. Rima who is a character in the movie is attracted to Siham a woman like her. Siham is not troubled by this and she encourages her by allowing her advances. In the society, the two women are labeled lesbians. This act of a woman in the society being attracted to another woman is considered evil.
The movie talks about the theme of love. Layale is in love with a married man. Rima loves a woman like her and Rose’s love for her older sister makes her sacrifice her happiness, in order to take care of her sister. The women share the share the sister love, they try to find solutions in the problems each of them face. In the case of Nisrine, they help her get her hymen stitched up to avoid her being disgraced by her prospect husband. In a cultural set up, the theme of love applies because this is what unifies members of a community or society. The women in the movie have trust among themselves. This is evident in the way they open up and discuss delicate matters. In the society, one would rather keep some things to herself. Talking freely about being a lesbian or dating a married man, is a way of showing a person’s lack of dignity.
Conclusion
Women who face challenges in the movie possess similar attributes. They have a guilty conscious, and they have to watch their backs constantly. Their output in the private labor force is a disaster. Their minds are occupied with the fear of being exposed. Therefore, this negatively affects her participation in the private labor force, and for anyone to be industrious in her place of work; she needs to have a clear conscience. Women should be mothers, and most importantly, they should have virtues. The pressure from the society for them to have children and to create homes makes them try hard to accomplish these requirements. They end up being single at an old age, as evident with Rose and Lily from the movie Caramel.