Avatar

I shut the world outside until the lights come on

@i-bloom-blaum / i-bloom-blaum.tumblr.com

Marta. 25. Coldplay. Mumford & Sons. The Killers. Cats. Cats. And more cats. Sometimes dogs.
Posts
Avatar
reblogged
thefeistiestworm
Avatar
leepacey

The 2011 Korean film “Silenced” is based on actual events that took place at Gwangju Inhwa School for the hearing-impaired, where deaf children were the victims of repeated physical and sexual assaults by faculty members over a period of five years in the early 2000s.

A newly appointed teacher at the school alerted human rights groups in 2005, and was subsequently fired from his job. This teacher was the first to come forward about the abuse he’d witnessed, as the school specifically sought out poorer teachers who would be completely dependent on the school for their financial security and therefore less likely to turn against the administration. 

Nine children eventually came forward, but more victims were believed to have concealed additional crimes in fear of repercussions or because of trauma. Children who were orphans or who had disabled parents were targeted specifically, and children who tried to come forward were sent back to school and disciplined by the faculty.

During the trial, the perpetrators received support from the local community, especially from the police and churches in the community. Of the six perpetrators, four received prison sentences, while the other two were freed immediately because the statute of limitations for their crimes had expired. Among those jailed, two were released after less than a year in jail. Four of the six teachers were reinstated in the school.

The film sparked public outrage after its 2011 release, which eventually resulted in a reopening of investigations into the incidents. The school was shut down, and several of the teachers pleaded guilty to sexual molestation charges, including the former principal, who was sentenced to twelve years in prison. The demand for legislative reform eventually reached its way to the National Assembly of South Korea, where a bill (named after the film) was unanimously passed in October 2011 to abolish the statute of limitations for all sex crimes against minors and the disabled.

The film’s ending scene is a protest that occurred following the suicide of a thirteen-year-old victim after the trial in 2005. As the crowd of human rights advocates and deaf people face brutality from the riot police, the fired teacher who initially came forward (who, along with a human rights activist, helped the victims through the trial process) repeats the name of the victim who’d committed suicide, saying “he cannot hear or speak.”

Avatar
reblogged
auniverseofimpossibilities
Avatar
currentlycryingaboutlancelot

much ado about nothing is so underrated. successfully scamming your friends into falling in love by just gossiping about them really loudly? golden. beatrice friendzoning benedick in front of everyone they know and then confessing her love like two minutes later? hilarious. the friar telling hero to deal with her shitty boyfriend by simply faking her own death? fucking superb. random villain who has literally no motive other than he just wants to fuck things up?  phenomenal. there is nothing about this play that is not incredible.

Also a sympathetically portrayed single woman who fucks! It really is one of Shakespeare’s best.

You are using an unsupported browser and things might not work as intended. Please make sure you're using the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Edge.