"The Journey"

Originally I was planning on writing an ode to Emma Thompson. Yesterday I watched "Sense and Sensibility" for the millionth time and once again fell in love with Emma Thompson's wit, grace, and phenomenal screenplay. On Youtube I stumbled upon this video (as shown below). I had never heard about this project before, but a shiver of gratitude and heartbreak went through me as I learned about it. Utilizing art for not just awareness raising, but viable political efforts is one of the top things I am passionate about in my life. I really don't know if there's anything that I hate more in this world than sex trafficking and the massive scale it exists on, this industry that makes billions of dollars a year from the slavery of women's bodies.

Seven rusty cargo containers became a demand for change. Led by Emma Thompson and the Helen Bamber foundation, several artists created an exhibit which told the story of Elena, a young woman from Lithuania, trafficked to the UK and sold as a prostitute, forced to service around 30 men a day. The installation went to several cities around the world and was even in Vienna to coincide with the first-ever global forum on human trafficking, The Vienna Forum to Fight Human Trafficking earlier this year.

I have my definite qualms and distaste in my mouth usually about celebrity activism (mostly because I quake of the disgenuine nature of it all) - but this is a brilliant use of it, because Emma Thompson is essentially using her status to guide people to listen to the story of the actual person and she demonstrated greatly (from what I have read) her intense moral passion to end one of the most revolting social ills.

Quotes from an interview with Emma Thompson:
"I wanted to find a way that I could engage people that wasn't simple story-telling, but there was a kind of story-telling that came halfway towards you and asked you to fill in the gaps."

"No, I don't think the average person knows and no one wants to know about suffering, they have got enough going on in their lives. You have to find ways to engage people without having to say, 'I'm really going to depress you now.' Nobody wants to be depressed by another story about what's going on the world. What they want is to be offered an opportunity to do something useful. There isn't a single person I've met who doesn't want that opportunity and that's what we've got to work on. "

"Those who have suffered a great deal have much to teach us. They are mentors and they can teach us about what's in the darkness. The ethics of the 21st century will depend on us recognising that darkness. We need to understand why human beings torture others, because we all have that inside ourselves."