Sarafina

603 Words2 Pages

Sarafina

Sarafina! is the story of the struggle for freedom of non-European school children in Soweto, South Africa. The story takes place during the time of the Apartheid just before Nelson Mandela was released in 1990 and the Apartheid ended. The Apartheid was a policy of strict racial segregation and political and economic discrimination against non-whites in the Republic of South Africa (WWWebster Dictionary). Segregation and discrimination against non-whites was imposed in housing, employment, education, and public services. It was enforced with a cruelly oppressive regime that used intimidation, torture, and murder to maintain order. Sarafina! was thus an open window to what went on during the Apartheid tied into the story of one rebellious young girl who tried her best to gain freedom for all non-white South Africans.

Sarafina! was helpful in presenting and illustrating the struggle for freedom in South Africa during the Apartheid and also in understanding the brutality of the repression and the children's response. The movie clearly, visibly, and graphically showed the violence of a civil war between the South African government and the non-whites. People were beaten, whipped, kicked, shot at, shocked with electricity, and tortured. There were riots and destruction of property. There was even the scene where the children set fire to the constable who beat and tortured their friends. This particular action of the children, in my opinion, was morally wrong; two wrongs do not make a right. It seemed as though they simply did it as revenge rather than as a solution to their problem.

Sarafina! showed that children can have an effect on their world and that once united they can make a difference. The ch...

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...eeded Mrs. Masambuca as their role model and their guide, or they would have never thought of gaining back their freedom.

Before I saw the movie, Sarafina!, I was not really aware of what went on during the Apartheid. I knew that it was a system of segregation and discrimination. However, I did not know that over 750 people were killed and over 10,000 were arrested, tortured, and assaulted. The film took me by surprise because it was so graphic and visual of what occurred during the Apartheid. What also took me by surprise was the fact that it was children challenging the South African government. I would have never thought, or even pictured, that children would fight against an entire government. Sarafina! really opened my eyes as to the struggle that men, women, as well as children, went through and their ways of dealing with the fight against Apartheid.

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