life is more than a dress rehearsal

The original post that shared this video commented that three years ago this short animated film about two girls that are trafficked into the sex industry would have been sensationalist.

Now, it is not. This reality is growing too familiar.

But animating the horror of human trafficking reinvigorated its tragedy. Whether victims are kidnapped as children or lured as women, trafficking manipulates and destroys the innocent expectation of good in the world. It is the expectation and hope of something better, perhaps marriage, perhaps a career, that is twisted toward their own destruction. This wounding goes deeper than physical trauma. The energizing vision that we have as children might be matured and focused as adults, but it is the power that pushes us forward.

And these women are arrested. Forced into stasis. Coldness. Immobility.

Some escape–their energy breaks through their bonds.
Others are still imprisoned, regardless or perhaps because of their rebellion.

This animated short articulates the deepest cut, the tragic manipulation of life’s energy into its own destruction.

little girls dream...