The People Behind My Eyes

I have to go to therapy but when I return I’ll go into my very Americanized thoughts on this movie. First of all it was stunning but one can’t afford to miss the message it delivers because of being distracted by its beauty and sensual imagery.

Can you imagine being sold, being torn from your siblings and put in a house where you didn’t know the rules or know if you’d ever see your siblings again? This is what happened to the children who were thrown into the okiya to become a Geisha. Their beginning is the same, they were taken from their families and sold into performance. This is why I say the story of each girl is the same, it starts off tragic, they suffer so much and are burdened by old traditions that kept women beneath men.

The difference in the three that is marked is whether or not they became hardened by what they’d experienced. Chiyo (the star of the show and shown last in the collage above) had humility and spirit and I believe it was that which lead her to be successful. Pumpkin was like a middle child in a family of three which is why she is presented in the middle of my collage. She was used as a pawn by the oldest Geisha of the house Hatsuhmomo (shown first in the collage above.) The three fought for the same things, for respect, for honor, for a place in a very troubled world. Can you blame Hatsuhmomo for being bitter when she knew that Chiyo would knock her down a notch and take from her what she’d bled all those years to get? Can you blame her for being so angry, for being hurtful, for lying, being deceitful and conniving when all she really wanted was freedom to love whom she wanted to love and not feel enslaved to the Geisha House? It seems that the star of the show (Chiyo) wanted the same thing, to love freely. Is their story really different? No, not in my opinion. I never thought poorly of Hatsuhmomo, not for one second. Yes, she did very cruel things. I guess I just saw her as a very embittered woman who fought hard for a very long time and who could no longer hold onto the purity of her heart. Could you? In the midst of that madness could you keep your humility and humanity or would you also turn vicious and manipulative, fighting for every step and recognition for those steps? That was the world they lived in, the same one that destroyed Hatsuhmomo and Pumpkin.

I see this movie as three abused girls who handled their abuse differently according to the severity of their abuse. Pumpkin, “the middle child”, reminds me of my sister. She smiled, entertained and made light of things but she was so desperate just to be seen with the other girls. She seemed to fall between the cracks because everyone was focused on Chiyo and Hatsuhmomo. Her actions at the end of the movie also reminded me of my sister. She waited for the right moment to put a dagger in then reminded Chiyo that a long time ago she took something from her that she really wanted. That kind of deceitfulness is a skill my sister has mastered. You never see it coming until it’s too late. I still felt sorrow for Pumpkin because like the other two girls, she just wanted to belong somewhere, wanted to be respected and loved and considered a great Geisha. They were all three trapped in a time and place and left to do the best they could.

I love this movie. The costumes are great, there is suspense, surprise, twists and plenty of beauty. You’ll learn a little history about the Geisha but you need to know the difference between the Hollywood version and factual history. All in all this movie is wonderful but there is something survivors might want to know.

A note to survivors about The Movie Memoirs of a Geisha

This movie shows the abuse young stolen children suffered under the hands of those low enough to purchase them. There are two scenes where young Chiyo is beaten with a bamboo stick on her back. For one brief moment I wanted to throw something at my TV. For one brief moment I flipped back to my own childhood with a dowel rod on my back. So, there are parts of the movie that can be triggering to those with abuse issues. There is one scene where older Chiyo is assaulted by the Baron. He forces her to take her shirt off and looks at her breasts. The movie does not show her breasts but it does show the fear on her face and has her begging him to stop. He finishes looking at her then leaves her on the floor crying.

The sex scenes were handled with modesty. I was impressed with how they did that. There is however, a scene where the housemother believes the head Geisha (Hatsuhmomo) had intercourse so one woman holds Hatsuhmomo’s arms to her side while the other puts her fingers between Hatsuhmomo’s legs to check for moisture.

The way that the women in this movie communicate with one another is very sexual. They get very close up in each others faces and you almost expect them to kiss. They never do but you keep waiting for them to do it. They even behave this way when speaking to the younger girls. This can be disturbing on many levels but rest assured there are no children that are raped in this movie, not by a man or a woman.

I can not think of any other scenes where one might have trouble but if I’ve left one out then I apologize. I think when it comes to movies of this kind I’d like to know first off what to expect; especially if there will be any sort of harm to children.

You can view pictures and commentary from the movie by visiting these two links.

Sony Pictures - Memoirs of a Geisha

Rottentomatoes - Memoirs of a Geisha

Until again,

Austin