Response to “Great Movie Scenes 90”

Although I also watched other video sources such as the Tedx talk explaining the correlation of bicycles with the economic justice for women, as well as its effect on cities, I found the short, foreign scene the most intriguing as well as the most controversial.

The opening scene contrasts two images: one of the woman bicycling, and the other of a horse. This already sets two sides in a scene that is rather out-of-context, yet provides enough information for the viewer to understand that there is going to be opposition as well as conflict. It is then learned that the scene takes on the perspective of the woman, giving focus to her bicycling along fellow women. She, however, seems disoriented, as several bicyclers pass her while she becomes bothered by the horses that catch up. She is confronted by two men, who are on horses, which places the two only men that appear in the scene in the opposing side of her perspective, to which the audience has now fixated on. The scene continues to the two men shouting at and questioning her, threatening divorce and urging her to stop cycling. They compare riding the bicycle to, “the devil’s mount”, and contrast it with her having a life instead. The scene ends with her saying, “Go ahead divorce me,” as she continues to ride alongside her fellow women. This is a very powerful statement and symbol, using her freedom and choice to cycle as a direct counter to the oppression of the two men who were following her. What empowers this scene even further is that there are many women, not just her, who are also cycling.