"Life has killed the dream I dreamed," cried Fantine as she felt like her whole being has died. Les Miserables is a film adapted from Victor Hugo's novel that shows the French people struggles in life. Les Miserables happened between the late 1700s and early 1800s in France. During this time, social injustice was a common case among the people. An example of it is the unequal treatment of women to men. Women were treated like objects and they were expected to be somewhat of a good follower or else they are ridden of the right to live a peaceful life. That is why this review will focus on Fantine who symbolizes the women who were and are continuously being judged and degraded.

Les Miserables starts off with a scene where prisoners were hauling in a ship, and one of them is Jean Valjean. He runs away from Javert, who was in-charge of his parole, and decided to start anew with the help of Bishop Myriel. After a while, he became the mayor of a town. On the other hand, Fantine, a factory girl, was fired from her job upon the revelation of her secret – that she has a child. She entered a life of prostitution; Valjean saved her from going to prison and promised her, before she died, that he will take care of Cosette; and so he took Cosette from the Thenardiers, where Cosette was staying. Years passed and a love triangle blooms between Cosette, Marius, and Eponine. Meanwhile, the Friends of the ABC start a rebellion and build a barricade with Valjean and Gavroche, a young boy on the streets of Paris, on their side. Marius also helps the group but he isn't one of them. Gavroche dies so as the members of the group while Marius survives with the help of Valjean. Javert, on the other hand, commits suicide. Valjean hid in a convent; Marius and Cosette went to him after their marriage. They knew of his whereabouts through the Thenardiers. At the end of it all, Valjean finally received peace. The film ends with all the people who died singing a song.Now that the summary of the film is finished, let us move on to the focus of this review – Fantine, a symbol of women who were and are continuously being judged and degraded.

Fantine is a single mom who works at a factory to be able to send money to Cosette. Everything goes haywire when her secret, that she has a child without being married, is revealed. She got fired from her job because of it, as having children yet being unmarried was totally unacceptable during that time. People looked at her differently and perceived her as a whore. Fantine was degraded by the society she was in because her situation was very scandalous. Women's worth is being taken for granted. They are being treated like toys, they are being manipulated. One wrong move from them and society will automatically judge their whole being. Fantine was deprived of the chance to live a normal life; she was continuously being tossed around, being used by different men. Her value as a woman was long gone now. Women shouldn't be treated like gum on the sidewalk; they shouldn't be walked on by anyone. Women and men should have equal rights; women shouldn't be disregarded in the society. We all have our own value and everyone has their own right to live a life free from drama and free from the pains that society may hurl at us.

All in all, the film was greatly done! Each of the actors played their roles really well and they were able to give justice to the personality and feelings of the characters they portray. The setting of the film is really good, too, because it gives the right feeling to the audience. I feel like I really knew what happened and the setting helped me in opening my eyes and in viewing things in a larger scale. It helped me to look at the story in a certain way wherein the reality of it seemed too surreal because I didn't expect that France would have such backgrounds. Moreover, it was really great and I loved every moment of it.