by Kit on Sun Jun 07, 2009 5:13 pm
Nujood Ali, of Ethiopia, was married off when she was nine years old. He husband beat and raped her. She went to her parents who wouldn't shelter her. She eventually collected money from her friends and got a bus to the courthouse, sitting there and refusing to move until she got a divorce. A lawyer listened to her, took her case on pro bono and got her one.
This is a sparse and concept driven piece, it's sparseness is to be applauded, it's stark. But I criticize your response to your responsibilities as an artist. This is immensely indulgent, it glorifies self abuse and the acquirement of disorders just for attention. I don't know if your parents suck, or your characters parents suck, or everyone's parents suck as they tend to do, but there is so much suffering, so much abuse and neglect in the world, without us having to contrive any more. I suppose this a genre thing, this is an emo thing, and sure that's a valid sub-culture, but you want to tie your work to the visceral core of humanity then you are going the wrong way about it. It's a trendy piece.
I've been through some terrible things in my life, and I know people who have been through worse, but if Nujood Ali gets something done about it, gets herself out of it at 9 years old, really no one else has a license to whinge.
Princess of Parataxis, Mistress of Manichean McGuffins