Understanding the Trauma

Grandma Gil says, “I didn't know what war was. I didn't know what men were. I had no idea what was being taken from me...” What was being taken from her?

Consider the ways that the Grandmas’ physical and emotional scars intertwine. In what ways did their trauma linger even after they escaped from the comfort stations? What are the long-term consequences of:

• Being rendered sterile in a culture that values motherhood?
• Being raped at an age so young you didn’t know what sex was?
• Being forcibly impregnated by an enemy of your country and feeling that there was no choice but to kill your baby?
• Returning to communities where it was shameful to be a victim of rape?

Adela’s son, Eric, guesses that his mother kept her secret for so long “because she wanted to protect the family.” How does the weight of such heavy secrets influence families? How did finally sharing her secret change Adela and change her relationship with her son?

For a time, all of the women featured tried to forget the suffering they endured. How does memory suppression both help and hinder the recovery process?

What do the survivors have in common with other people who have been imprisoned and tortured? What is it about their situation that prevented their countries from treating them as prisoners of war?

Zhang Shaun Bing observes that “Chinese survivors could not speak out. Nobody cared to listen. After suffering, they just had to swallow their pain and keep silent.” Li Gui Hua, Grandma Cao’s daughter, adds that many Chinese felt lucky to have survived the war at all. How were the Grandma’s lives affected by returning to communities where everyone was living with the traumas of war? Why is it important for people to be able to tell their stories and to know that other people are hearing them?

Constructions of Womanhood and Gender Roles

How do you account for the reaction of Japanese protestors who call the Grandmas vile names and accuse them of being prostitutes? What do the particular slurs and taunts they use suggest about their motives?

Grandma Adela says she never told her father “Because at that time, it was really a great... It's really a shame as a woman, to be raped.” And she never told her husband because she feared he would leave her. What does a society have to believe about the nature and value of women in order to blame victims for rape?

The co-leader of Japan's Restoration Party, Toru Hashimoto, says that Japan should not apologize for its wartime use of sex slaves because “sex slavery was necessary.” Others echo his belief. What versions of manhood, womanhood, and war are validated by the notion that sex slavery was “necessary”? How do those beliefs about gender roles compare with your beliefs about what it means to be a man or a woman?

Grandma Cao explains, “I can't read. I never went to school. Only boys were allowed to go, not girls. If they let us go to school, then I would be able to read.” How did existing sexism contribute to the situation they faced trying to re-create normal lives?

The Importance of Memory

Scholars have observed that those who tell the stories control the culture. Both Zhang Shaun Bing and Japanese students indicate that the stories of the Grandmas are absent from history books. Why have the stories of military sexual slavery been silenced? Why would it be important for people in Japan and in the Grandmas’ home countries to hear their stories? Who controls the stories that are included or excluded from your history books? How have those decisions shaped your culture or your understanding of who you are?

Chinese villagers say that they “don't like to talk about these things. Why would we want to? Who would feel happy if their daughter was raped by Japanese soldiers?” How does such silence square with the notion that those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it?

The filmmaker asks Li Gui Hua if she will share her mother’s story with her daughter. She answers, “I will, after she graduates. After she graduates, when she's older. She's too young now. It might affect her emotionally.” If you were in her shoes, what do you think you would do? How would you start the conversation?

At the end of the film, young women speak to the Grandmas. If you were among them, what would you say? What would your message be?

Lessons about War

Does the fact that the comfort stations were created during wartime make a difference? What sorts of traumas did soldiers experience that might have contributed to their willingness to treat the girls in the comfort stations as objects?

Grandma Gil says, “We are travelling all over to create a peaceful world. Not just for Korea and Japan, but for the world.” How do their stories help bring peace?

Because Grandma Gil was kidnapped from North Korea, and the conflict between North and South never officially ended, she was never able to return home or contact her family. How did the separation exacerbate the trauma?

What did you learn from the film that you could apply to sexual violence in conflict situations today?

The Meaning of Redress

Given that the Grandmas’ experiences were atrocities common to war, do you believe that Japan owes them reparations? Why or why not?

Why do you think Japan has resisted accepting legal responsibility for the military sexual slavery system? What’s at stake?

How does the language used to describe the Grandmas – “comfort women” rather than, say, underage sexual slaves, prisoners of war, or victims of torture – influence the debate over apologies and reparations?

Healing

Grandma Gil recognizes that her wounds will not go away even with an apology, but even though “the scars will remain, my heart can heal. I am waiting for that day.” Why is an apology such a vital part of the healing process? Why would the Grandmas and their supporters put in decades of effort demanding one?

Meehyang Yoon asks Grandma Gil, “Why do you always hold it in? Sometimes you've got to let your tears come out. That's healing. It'll console your heart. Why do you hold your tears in?” In your experience, what role does crying play in the healing process? Why might Grandma Gil hold back her tears, especially in public?

Grandma Adela meets with a group of other “Grandmas.” What difference does it make to have peers who understand your experience, especially for those who have kept their past a secret?

After Grandma Adela “removes this thorn that's been stuck in my heart” by telling her son about her past, she says, “My spirits have been lifted. I feel 10 kilos lighter.” How does speaking about one’s experience of atrocity aid the healing process?

At many of their protests and gatherings, the Grandmas and their supporters sing. Are there circumstances when you sing with others? What songs inspire you? Comfort you?

Adela questions the idea of revealing her story: “It's very shameful to be a victim. That's the attitude in Roxas, in the Philippines. If you expose yourself, then what for? To be a hero? When in fact you are a society outcast?” The filmmaker answers, “But you know that... because you're willing to tell people, that you allow people to feel strong. You do that for other people.” How do the Grandmas who have publicly shared their stories make others stronger? Did hearing their stories make you feel stronger?

Additional media literacy questions are available at: www.pbs.org/pov/educators/media-literacy.php