Everyone encompasses his or her religion differently. Whether you are a strong believer of your faith, or silently pray at night before you go to sleep. Being different makes you who you are and gives you individuality. However, a lot of people struggle with being an individual in a religion that is so set on tradition. In the movies Wadjda and Le Grand Voyage, both of the main characters find themselves in their own struggle with themselves, and with their religion.
The movie Wadjda is set in Saudi Arabia, where there are very strict rules about how girls are supposed to act in society, especially in the Islam faith. Wadjda is about a young girl who's one life's dream is to own that beautiful green bike she sees everyday when coming from school. She really wants to race of friend of hers from her neighborhood named Abdullah. Unfortunately it is especially hard for her to get the bike because when she tells her mother about it, she immediately says no.
Date seller in the old souq in Kuwait City, surrou...
English: A picture of people performing (circumamb...
English: Courtesy of the University of Texas Libra...Women riding bicycles is frowned upon in society and her mother does not want her to be looked down on in any way. Even though Wadjda's mother says no to buying her the bike, she does not give up. She decides to take matters into her own hands by trying to raise the money on her own. She sells some of the tapes that she owns, and she makes homemade braided bracelets to her classmates. When none of these raise enough money she decided to sign up for her schools' Qur'an recitation competition because there is prize money. She shows her dedication to the bike by winning the competition. She is absolutely ecstatic about her win and tells her teachers what she plans to do with the prize money.