BY REBECCA MARGOLICK AND MAXX BERKOWITZ
We were moved by the text we discussed at our LABA session last week, which told the story of Rabbi Ishmael’s children, enslaved for their extraordinary beauty. The story paints a dark image of the deeply seeded extreme voyeurism ingrained in humanity. Beauty drives us to great evil, jealousy and blindness. The text depicts the lengths one would go to in order to own another’s beauty. This story remains relevant today with the continued prevalence of child slavery and pornography: the young and beautiful on display, exploited for the pleasure of the powerful.
This video is an intimate view of the girl ensnared by this small circle of light, wary of what would happen if she left the shadows. The video portrays a feeling of passive observation, leaving the viewer with a sense of the girl’s futile situation and sense of hopelessness.