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Reviews
War Zone (1998)
Brilliant and frightening!
Maggie Hadleigh-West's film is an honest look at street harassment. People who criticize her confrontational manner are making excuses for the behavior of adults who should know better.
Being attracted to someone does not give you the right to approach, speak to or regard them in a manner that they find offensive. A woman walking down the street in a mini skirt and bra top is going to garner a lot of attention, but that is not the point of this film.
In the film, Maggie is not dressed provocatively by American cultural standards. She's wearing shorts and a tank top. And yet she is harassed in the same manner than I am when I'm wearing a coat and hat in the middle of February. It's not about the clothes. It's about the overwhelming and disheartening lack of respect for women in this society.
One of the things Maggie does best is drive home the chilling connection between business men who "compliment" a woman's body while they're out to lunch, the criminals in trench coats who flash their naked private parts at young girls and the rapist who forces his way into a woman's house and forces himself on her in her own home.
"War Zone" is a fantastic film, and I suggest watching it with friends. The ending, especially, can be upsetting.