Martha y Maria: Women's Lives, Women's Rights: The Story Behind 'Frida'

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

The Story Behind 'Frida'

Frida Kahlo

Thank you to Salma Hayek for her courageous telling of the story behind one of my favorite films, Frida, directed by Julie Taymor in 2002.

"Harvey Weinstein Is My Monster, Too" she explains in an opinion piece in the NY Times. Monster is the operative word here.

It's a wonder that Frida was ever made or shown in theaters rather than released as a video or received two Oscars. He did his best to kill it. He did his best to force her into sexual acts as the price for being allowed to make the film.

I have new respect for women who direct films after hearing Salma's story. The barriers are just incredible.

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In memory of Martha Puebla & In honor of Maria Riveros

On a spring night in 2003, Martha Puebla, age 16, was shot in the face while sitting outside her home in Sun Valley, California, near Los Angeles. Her death was ordered by a gang member on trial for a murder she had witnessed.

On July 13, 2008, in San Ignacio, Paraguay, Maria Riveros took her pregnant 16-year-old daughter to the home of an obstetrician and asked her to perform an abortion. The fetus of about 4 mo. was buried outside the home, but there were complications and the next day Maria had to rush her daughter to a hospital, where a hysterectomy was performed. The obstetrician and her daughter, a nurse, were arrested and charged with performing an abortion.

This blog is dedicated to Martha, Maria and all women who courageously negotiate their lives in this world filled with gang warfare and international warfare, poverty and wealth, drug trafficking and addiction, and lack of access to birth control, legal abortion, and other health care.