Hotel Rwanda

It’s been 5 days since I last watched the movie, ‘Hotel Rwanda’, on 24th Jan (Mon). The movie is great, with a superb cast who were able to portray, in my opinion, a very accurate re-enactment of the situation then. Bloodshed was not the main focus of the film, but instead the focus was on the bravery of the one man and the love that binds his family, his community and him. It’s a heart-wrenching film as with so many other war films. However, this film has another point to make besides your usual war movies. Why was there no international intervention at all? As Colonel Oliver (played by Nick Nolte) said in the film: because the Rwandans are blacks, because the international committee feels that the country is not worth their effort.... How long more does prejudice has to go on before we learnt our lessons? Does it mean the blacks' lives are not worth as much as other humans? And does the UN, United States or the European nations have to make sure that they would gain something out of Rwanda before they would intervene?

How could human beings be so cruel to one another? Especially when everyone are fellow men in the same country? Is it due to a lack of education, I often wonder?

The website below emailed to me by my friend provides a very good insight into the entire film. Not too heavy reading. Lotsa links and useful info. The timeline was especially interesting as it dawned on me that the racial discrimination could date back all the way when the Belgium government gave unequal treatment to the 2 tribes in the 1918! And in the period (between late April and mid-July) prior to the dispatch of U.N. soldiers back to Rwanda, what an "efficient" way the various governmental bodies are making decisions. SHAME ON THEM! In this case, saying sorry is really no cure.
http://www.mgm.com/ua/hotelrwanda/main.html

I highly encourage everyone to watch this movie as everyone should be aware of what’s going on in the world around them. Things like this are still happening in the Congo, Somalia and Sudan. You would be gripped by the reality that this is so real in some parts of the world. And be thankful that you are so sheltered right here in Singapore.

There are very few, in fact, almost no bloody scenes in which u would be forced to cringe at the sight of dismembered bodies. However, the way the family was forced to live in anxiety and fear everyday, not knowing when their time would come may get to you… it can be emotionally draining…. And I can well understand that as I have experienced similar emotions in the darkest period of my life before…

This movie also brought to mind what a close friend told me about what Angelina Jolie said after she’s been to Sierra Leone to shoot the movie, “Beyond Borders�: “I’ll never feel self-pity for myself ever again, as I’ve never experienced real poverty.� It may not be the exact words, but the meaning to be conveyed was along these lines.

Everyone of us may undoubtedly would have our very own problems, be it with family, studies, relationships, monetary, stress, personal expectations…. But as compared to all those children or teenagers out there in the 3rd world, we have so much more than them… We have the most basic necessities of a shelter, clean water and sanitation, food & clothing. Many millions out there don’t. The next time u decide to procrastinate about something, think twice. We are indeed luckier than many out there.

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself."
-Ralph Waldo Emerson