Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mack4289]

First I'll say it's a very well done film. Great acting, very powerful, one of the most compelling movies I've seen.

But did you get the feeling that the film made Rwandans out to be almost entirely victims of circumstance? Hotel Rwanda seemed to say the West created all the circumstances there and the Rwandans simply reacted to them.

Maybe you think I'm trying to push all the responsibility on the Rwandans and off the West. I'm not- I'm just saying I imagine there's more to what happened in Rwanda than what you can blame on the West's action or inaction.

Portraying the Rwandans as strictly victims of circumstance reinforces an idea that's both wrong and dangerous- the colonizer/invader/occupier (the -ers) is only the actor and the colonized/invaded/occupied (the -eds) is only the reactor. It's this kind of belief that makes it easier to support disastrous ventures like Iraq and Vietnam. It badly exaggerates the power of the -ers and badly underestimates the power of the -eds. It oversimplifies a vastly complex situation and makes it digestible for the public of the -ers.

I say "possible" problem because I'm not completely convinced of my argument. But I think there's something there.

[RACETRAITOR]

My problem with Hotel Rwanda is I had reservations for a vacation there once, and when I showed up there were 16 Rwandans already in my hotel room. And the breakfast buffet was the pits. Worst vacation ever.

One ticket to Hell please.

[safeblad]

Day in the Life of a Victim of Circumstance

Wake Up

Have Breakfast

Grab Machete

Hack People Up

Come home

Chill with family

Sleep like a Baby

repeat for a few months

[Sine qua non]

I think the role of the foreign influence in Rwanda is described, but I think it is appropriately conveyed. It is a component of the terrible situation there at that time, but it is a subordinate, and even minor, component.

The movie clearly conveyed, in my opinion, that this was a Rwandan issue first and foremost.

It was a powerful, sad movie. I'm glad I saw it.

[mack4289]

[swetepete]

I've been reading and watching documentaries about human behavior lately and I'm pretty sure people in general are always ridiculously close to treating other people like meat, and only circumstance and wealth keep us from doing it. I figure the Rwandan massacres were something that any people could do, as long as enough other people were doing it and the authorities told us it was OK. We're at present a bit removed from it, us rich well-fed educated ones, but not by much.

IMHO; Abu Graib, My Lai, 'the Holocaust,' prison in general, the Khmer Rouge, the current war in Iraq, and the Spanish Inquisition are all symptoms of a racial blind spot; we are pack animals with the ability to occasionally rise above all that and think for ourselves. Mostly, though, we just do what we are told, regardless of how vicious and stupid and evil it might be.

I hope I'm wrong...

[Tony_Balony]