Taken has increased awareness for parents and for girls. My daughter is 21. She saw Taken a year ago. She’s going to Spain for a college language immersion trip and is taking self defense courses and is completely aware of the importance of hanging with a group. Solely because of the movie.
I think the whole premise of the movie is silly. If I were a pimp in Europe, the Middle East, etc., why would I go through the trouble to kidnap spoiled and defiant American girls and expend the energy trying to force them into prostitution when there are tens of thousands of beautiful Russian and Ukrainian girls who would willingly work for me?
Any parent with a kid (especially a daughter) going overseas to study ought to sit down with them and have a long talk about the young lady caught up in the murder in Italy.
Amen! I showed my daughters this movie to make them aware of what the “real world” is like. There is a tendency for young people to be idealistic. As a young soldier in the late 80s and early 90s I was able to get around Europe quite a bit and I was shocked at how many young girls just go out on their own without proper safety precautions (like the 2 girls on Taken)
With all respect, your own country is more than violent enough to warrant violence and rape awareness for girls and young Americans overall.
Spain is a beautiful and friendly country, she will be fine there.