After watching the movie Hotel Rwanda, I have two primary reactions. The first is the exposure of a completely new point of view for this type of conflict. This movie allowed us to see the other side of the conflict, one that we (the country) do not consider in making political views. The second of my reactions are the relation to Maus and the Holocaust; how both can be sickly regarded as extermination.
When the United Nations came to aid people in danger of the war, emotions such as relief were circulating throughout the stranded people in the hotel. However, the United Nations had given false hope to these people, having not been assigned to rescue Africans. The United Nations was simply there to rescue people of their own who were American tourists. By showing the great disappointment in all of the eyes of those left behind, a new perspective was given to global conflicts similar to this. As an American, it is easy to say that we should not involve ourselves in other countries affairs, and only rescue those who posses United States citizenship. However, after seeing this part of the movie, it seems like we (the United States) should make our best attempts not to stop conflict, but to save innocent victims who are caught in the middle of such awful surroundings. This is because in certain situations, there simply is no escape for people who are hated without reason.
My second thought after viewing Hotel Rwanda is how closely it relates to Maus and the Holocaust. One scene in particular defines this thought; the clearing of the mist in which thousands of dead bodies are seen covering the streets. In Maus, Vladek discusses how thousands of people would not only be gassed to death, considered the lucky ones, but how when the gas chambers were full how the Jews would be forced into huge trenches only to be burned alive. This sort of act does not register in my mind as mass murder. This is extermination, similar to how humans would kill a hive of wasps. This term extermination is consistent in both texts, Hotel Rwanda and Maus, where hundreds of thousands of people, in both cases, were dehumanized and killed for possessing differences. It is a fact that is so unfathomable and shameful that it is part of humanity’s history.
1 comment:
I really agree with you on this one. The country does need to get involved in the world. Even though many other countries may be complaining that we do too much and get too involved, what would happen if we didn't. Granted that in the movie the U.N. only came to save the u.s. citizens, but think what would have happened had that not happened. Many of the people in the movie didn't want to do some things because they knew that the world was watching and that it would definitely be seen. If the U.N. had something like the nuremburg trials, but with the rwandans. If our country wasn't there, helping and giving support, think how much worse it could have been without the hindrance of the people knowing that there actions would be on record and become part of history.
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