Traffic in Souls

Q1: How does the film relate to the chapter in Foner?
Foner characterizes this time as the rise in consumer product goods. Freedom was defined by the ability of a person to purchase these goods. Access to goods became a fundamental right. Traffic in Souls shows people exploiting others as a way to gain money, which in turn can be used to purchase goods. The freedom for the exploiters comes at a direct loss of freedom to the exploited, the immigrant women forced into prostitution.

Q2: What can we learn about American culture during the time period by interpreting the film as a primary historical source?
Traffic in Souls shows that America is in transition from conservative values to more liberal. Women are working, thus exerting their independence. Immigrants are coming into the country in a steady stream, so many that they have a tendency to get lost in the shuffle.

Q3: What does the film reveal about attitudes towards gender, class, and race?
Traffic in Souls depicts women as disposable and as such allowed them to be forced into prostitution. Immigrants were shown as the victims of this as well because often, no one would care or notice if an immigrant went missing.

Q4: What was the most important scene in the film?
The most important scene in this film is the end when all of the wrong doers are captured and the immigrant women are freed. Also the two sisters are reunited. This is important because it offers hope that things can change and eventually the wrong doers will pay for their crimes.

My Review: I’ll give this film a 4 out of 5 because it showed me a side of the 1900s that I’d never thought about before. I was unaware that something like human trafficking could occur back then.