I wrote an article not too long ago about movies that make you think – about love, money, life. The other night I watched "Human Traffic" and it topped all the movies I've seen in a while. This movie made me think about just-about-everything.
Single mother Helena, from Prague, meets a romantic, successful man who invites her to spend a weekend in Vienna. On arriving at a big mansion, Helena finds out that the wonderful gentleman actually set her up to be a sex slave.
Sixteen-year-old Nadia from Ukraine is selected by a modeling agency that helps her get a passport. She travels to the United States with the other selected candidates. Freshly off the plane, Helena tells her that her dreams of being a model are no longer possible as she has just been lied to and cheated and is going to be used to sell sex. These young girls are brutally beaten and raped and told their families will be harmed if they try to run away or contact police.
American twelve-year-old Annie Gray is staying in the Philippines on a holiday with her parents. While she is out shopping with her mother, she wanders towards a young boy selling jewellery and is suddenly abducted. She too is going to be used for sex.
Joining Annie are is a young girl from the Philippines whose parents have reached such poverty they sell her to a local man. Later on, the young girl suffers from meningitis and is killed before she can infect the other children.
Meanwhile, the families of these young people each tries to help in their own way. Helena's mother looks after Ivanka, Helena's 3 year-old daughter. Annie Gray's mother stays on in the Philippines and joins a not for profit organization that battles sex slavery. Nadia's father finds a way to go under cover and join the group of traffickers in order to save his daughter.
This movie made me question so many things my head was buzzing by the time I went to bed.
• Could this happen to me?
• What would I do if this happened to me?
• What would I do if that was my child?
• How can I prevent this?
• Who would do such a thing?
• Is the money really worth it?
• Why did no one help them? Are people so cold and wrapped up in their own lives?
• What did these young girls ever do to deserve such a thing?
The movie also showed police participants in these brutal activities, which made me think that terrible people come in all shapes and sizes.
The movie ended well, THANK GOODNESS! I don't think I could have managed to sleep for the next 6 months if it hadn't. The man responsible for terrorizing these girls was shot in the NYPD raid of one of his houses, the enslaved girls were rescued and Nadia went home with her father. But just as an afterthought, so that you all know, before the credits rolled, came the shocking news that over 800,000 people are enslaved this way every year, all around the world. Human trafficking is the third largest criminal activity in the world. These organizations only grow because there is a demand and people willing to pay for sex and the innocence of young children.
I think this movie raises important points. It tells us that so long as there is demand for paid sex, someone will find a way to supply it. We should all be aware that such things happen. Before watching this movie, it might have registered that it happened to a few unlucky people, but now…800,000 people cannot be ignored. Be aware, and be careful. I sincerely hope that the only time I, and everyone else, ever have to combat such an issue, will be while watching this movie.
Tsoof and Eden love to download full movies from the Internet.
