Today, We’re going to explain a movie called “Desert Flower.” This movie tells the story of a young nomad girl named Waris Dirie who escapes from her family in Somalia at the age of 13 and later becomes a world-famous top model. She uses her platform to raise awareness and fight against the brutal tradition of female circumcision.
Waris, whose name means “desert flower,” was born into a nomadic family in Somalia, living in remote areas where modern civilization has yet to reach. The story progresses several years ahead, where an adult Waris finds herself in bustling London.
One day, she enters a local mall with the intention to try on clothes, but a saleswoman mistakenly accuses her of theft and threatens to call security. Frightened, Waris quickly flees the store. Later, in a chance encounter in the restroom, Waris discovers that she has been living in London for six years but still struggles to speak English. She feels a deep sense of displacement, as she doesn’t want to return to Somalia but lacks a support system in the West. With nowhere else to go, Waris attempts to confront the saleswoman as she exits the store, but finds herself spending the night on the streets and scavenging for food from garbage cans.
On a bus ride, Waris encounters the same saleswoman named Marilyn. Marilyn dreams of becoming a dancer but faces constant rejection during auditions. She offers to take Waris to her boarding house and suggests finding a job. Waris eventually becomes a cleaner at a fast-food restaurant. One day, a renowned photographer notices her and gives her his phone number, but Waris hesitates to respond. As weeks pass by, Waris continues to reside in the boarding house, work as a cleaner, and diligently study English. One evening, Waris and her friends decide to visit a disco. There, she encounters an attractive man named Harold who shows interest in her and invites her to dance.
However, Waris becomes overwhelmed by the stranger’s touch and quickly flees. When she returns home, she finds her friend Marilyn spending time with a man. This sight shocks Waris, forcing her to wait at the door while her friend bids farewell to her lover.
Waris believes that Marilyn is ignorant about the topic of female circumcision, thinking that it is the only way for a woman to be considered right or pure. In an attempt to explain, Waris lifts her dress to show Marilyn what was done to her as a child—a practice in Somalia where girls have their genitals cut and sewn together, only to be opened by their husbands on their wedding night. Waris, at the age of three, believed that this was done to all women worldwide, but Marilyn assures her that this is not the case in the West.
Horrified by her friend’s revelation, they both cry and embrace each other at work in a café. Waris encounters the photographer again, who had given her his phone number before. Marilyn advises her to participate in the photo shoot as it could be an opportunity to earn money. Marilyn also hands Waris a note from Harold, a man from a nightclub, containing his address in New York. Suddenly, Waris falls seriously ill and experiences severe pain. Marilyn helps her get to the hospital, where she is examined by a gynecologist. The doctor realizes that Waris has limited English proficiency and requests the assistance of a Somali-speaking nurse. The Somali nurse arrives and, contrary to the doctor’s intent, shames Waris for exposing herself to a white man and emphasizes the importance of preserving their traditions. Waris can only cry in response.
The narrative then shifts back several years when Waris was thirteen years old, living with her family in the desert. She is introduced to her future husband, an elderly man who paid five camels for her. Unwilling to accept her fate, Waris escapes to her grandmother in Mogadishu with her mother’s silent approval. Over the course of several days, Waris endures a treacherous journey through the desert, enduring pain and bleeding from her feet. Miraculously, she reaches her distant relatives alive and unharmed.
The story then jumps ahead many years. Waris undergoes surgery to reverse the effects of female circumcision and later meets the photographer who had left her his phone number at a diner. Determined, Waris inquires about the photoshoot, applies makeup, and participates in her first-ever photoshoot. Gradually, Waris becomes a successful and sought-after model, receiving job offers from around the world. During this time, her friend Marilyn faces disappointment in a dance casting. Waris gifts Marilyn an expensive watch and asks her to teach her how to walk in heels.
However, their happiness is short-lived when a modeling agent informs Waris that she has been fired due to her expired passport, making her an illegal immigrant subject to deportation to Somalia. The boarding house worker suggests a fake marriage to help her stay in England, but that option is not necessary as the agency manages to obtain counterfeit documents for Waris. She then travels to the United States for work but gets detained by the police at the airport.
The story shifts back many years when Waris, at thirteen years old, receives advice from her grandmother, who believes that she should go to the United Kingdom to work as a housekeeper for her mother’s sister, the wife of the Somali Ambassador in London. Her grandmother believes that Europe will provide safety and advises her not to return. Waris boards the plane, bidding farewell to her homeland.
In London, she works at the Somali Embassy, taking on menial tasks such as washing and cleaning. Several years later, a coup occurs in Somalia, prompting the embassy employees to return home. However, Waris chooses to stay, knowing that her family will never forgive her for escaping. The narrative then progresses forward several years.
Waris is released from custody after bail is paid for her. She is granted a limited residence permit, but any further violation could result in deportation. Waris urgently needs a work permit, so she decides to accept an offer for a fake marriage. She moves in with her newly made husband in the same apartment to avoid suspicion from the immigration authorities.
Waris returns to her work as a model. During a photoshoot, the photographer asks her to undress, leaving Waris feeling embarrassed and exposed in front of the camera. While her career is progressing, her relationship with her fictitious husband deteriorates. The man professes his love for her and persistently tries to engage in intimate activities. Waris feels desperate and considers returning to her homeland.
Fortunately, she soon receives an indefinite residence permit, freeing her from the confines of a marriage of convenience. While filming in New York, Waris remembers a note from Harold, a guy she met at a nightclub. She visits him but discovers that he already has a girlfriend, leaving her heartbroken. Waris becomes a world-famous top model, and a film about her life is produced by the BBC.
During an interview, she is asked to share the day that changed her life. Waris recounts the painful memory of when she was three years old and her mother took her to the desert, where a local witch doctor performed female circumcision on her using an ordinary razor in unsanitary conditions. Despite the excruciating pain and the removal of all her genitalia, Waris miraculously survived. This heartbreaking story brings the journalist to tears, and it receives widespread coverage.
Harold reads the article and seeks a meeting with Waris. She attends a UN meeting and courageously shares her experience with the world, shedding light on the barbaric practice of female circumcision in Africa and other countries. Thanks to Waris’s advocacy, female circumcision is officially banned in many states. However, the ancient traditions persist to this day. And with that, the movie concludes.
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