Build a movie plot around this: Who deprived herself of pleasures of the flesh? Mary Magdalene
The answer to this question is:
In Ireland at the time the film is set, 'fallen women' were considered sinners who needed to be redeemed. The film follows the stories of four young women - Margaret ("guilty" of being raped by her cousin), Rose (unmarried mother), Bernadette (too beautiful and coquettish) and Crispina (mentally-handicapped single mother) - who are all forced by their families or caretakers to go to the Magdalene Asylum.The film details the disastrous lives of the four girls whilst they are inmates of the laundries, portraying their harsh daily regimen, their squalid living conditions and the oppressive nature of the Catholic faith at the time.Each woman suffers unspeakable cruelty and violence from the fictional Mother Superior, Sister Bridget, despite her appearance and outward demeanour. She is characterized as sadistic and almost inhuman at times, as conveyed through her merciless beating of Rose in full view of Bernadette, or when she mockingly laughs at Una as she hopelessly clutches at her fallen hair locks. It is never made explicit whether Sister Bridget needlessly behaves tyrannically or if she earnestly believes her actions necessary in the eyes of God (it could also be seen as internalised misogyny).The film also criticises the hypocrisy and corruption within the staff of the laundries, but it also intimates at the natures of the relationship between church and state in post-colonial Ireland. Sister Bridget relishes the money the business receives and it is suggested that little of it is distributed appropriately. Those who liken themselves to Mary Magdalene, who deprived herself of all pleasures of the flesh, even food and drink, eat hearty breakfasts of buttered toast and bacon while the working women subsist on oatmeal. In one particularly humiliating scene, the women are forced to stand naked in a line after taking a communal shower. The nuns then hold a "contest" on who has the most pubic hair, biggest bottom, biggest breasts and more. The corruption of the resident priest is made very clear through his...