The Eagle Huntress Movie Review is brought to you by Sony.
My girls and I had the opportunity to screen The Eagle Huntress from SONY Pictures and we were pretty excited to broaden our horizons and learn about girls from other cultures. This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
My daughters consider themselves pretty lucky to be able to do pretty much everything their brothers do. What they didn't realize before watching The Eagle Huntress is that life for girls isn't the same in every culture. They learned a lot about how girls are treated differently in other parts of the world, just by watching this documentary. I think what I loved the most about this film was the strong father-daughter relationship. I think that is something that can be so easy to miss in this movie but without the encouragement from her father, I don't think Aisholpan would have been able to break away from her culture's tradition the way she did. It was her father's approval and training that provided her with the knowledge, strength, and courage she needed to break down the barriers society had placed on her.
My daughters are very fortunate to have a father who is very supportive of them, but I know many girls need that strong male figure in their lives who is willing to give them the guidance and support they need to become a strong woman.
If you haven't seen this documentary it follows a 13-year-old girl (Aisholpan), as she trains to become the first female in 12 generations of her Kazakh family to become an eagle hunter and rises to the pinnacle of a tradition that has been handed down from father to son for centuries.
Set against the breathtaking expanse of the Mongolian steppe, The Eagle Huntress features some of the most awe-inspiring cinematography ever captured in a documentary, giving this intimate tale of a young girl's quest the dramatic force of an epic narrative film.
This film is a great excuse to sit down with your daughters and talk about gender stereotypes and the many amazing things girls and women can do. It also opened a lot of doors for me to talk to my daughters about gender roles. The elders in one scene of the movie mention that women stay home and prepare tea and water and that was an interesting conversation with my girls because I don't believe there is anything wrong with that. I think in our society we so quickly cast the "tea and water makers" as these weak and defenseless creatures. While the men of different cultures may see the women this way these same tea and water makers take care of the sick in these villages and the wounded these are strong women who do so much more than prepare tea and water.
All of that to say; if you are looking to get into some really deep conversations with your daughters about gender roles, equality, living one's dreams, parental support, and facing challenges, I think this is a great documentary for that.
Not to mention we had never even heard of eagle hunting before this so that was pretty awesome to see. I mean a little girl that wasn't afraid to scale a cliff and steal an eagle hatchling? I'm afraid of chickens and frogs! All jokes aside this girl definitely has us beat in the bravery department but after some discussion, we agree that we think that is a product of her growing up in a much less sheltered culture. We think there is probably a lot we could learn from Aisholpan.
If you'd like to open up some interesting discussions with your own daughters or sons you can get The Eagle Huntress on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital.
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