Magdalene Sisters Essay

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The Magdalene Sisters is a 2002 film, written and directed by Peter Mullan, about four teenage girls who were sent to Magdalene Asylums (also known as 'Magdalene Laundries'), homes for women who were labelled as "fallen" by their families or society. The homes were maintained by individual religious orders in the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland. Peter Mullan has remarked that the film was initially made because victims of Magdalene Asylums had received no closure in the form of recognition, compensation, or apology, and many remained lifelong devout Catholics.[2] Former Magdalene inmate Mary-Jo McDonagh told Mullan that the reality of the Magdalene Asylums was much worse than depicted in the film.[3] However, since the publication of the Irish government's McAleese Report on the Magdalene Laundries, the depiction of the abuse in the film has been questioned by the blogger Brendan O'Neill.[4] Though set in Ireland, it was shot entirely on location in the Dumfries and Galloway area, South-West Scotland. Plot[edit] In Ireland in 1964, three young women, considered sinners in need of redemption by society or their families, are sent to the Magdalene Asylum: Margaret, who was raped by her cousin at a wedding; Bernadette, who flirts with boys; and Rose, who has a child out of wedlock. As the Mother Superior, Sister Bridget, tells them, Magdalene Asylum's philosophy is to help young women return to God's grace through prayer, hard work and other forms of penance; it is named after Mary Magdalene, the Biblical fallen woman whom Jesus forgave and who devoted her life to asceticism to ensure she would be able to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. On her first night in the Asylum, Rose, known there by her confirmation name, Patricia, is in anguish as the milk backs up in her breasts. Another inmate of the asylum tells her she must endure the pain rather than lactate because

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