Rwanda or Something Like it
I went to see Hotel Rwanda tonight...
It was an incredibly powerful movie. The fact it was true made it even more so. I have never before been in a movie where the credits rolled and you could hear people sobbing. I spent half the movie trying to stop my chest from heaving and the tears from actually leaving my eyes. It wasn't a horror movie (or at least that was not its genre) and yet I don't remember being so scared in a movie before.
Why do we all standby and let this happen, things like this. Paul (the Hutu hero) said that he was pleased that they had footage of one of the massacres because the west would do something...the photographer replied that he thought they would probably see it on tv, say oh my goodness that is terrible and then go back to eating their dinner...and it is so true, that is what we do! Those people were waiting for the west to intervene or at least protect them, but what did we do? well we got the white people out of there. We allowed 1 million people to be murdered in the most savage ways. The actions in that place only ten years ago are so incredibly horriffic...it WILL happen again! And what will we do? Well we will get our people out. We were their hope, they EXPECTED help and it never came. I wonder if that would have happened if it was Australians that were being killed. Actually I don't have to wonder do I?
The most powerful quote I found was this (from a disillusioned UN worker to Paul) "You are dirt to us (the west), You're not even a nigger, you're an African". Doesnt it feel/look like that sometimes. We let these people starve to death, children are murdered, orphaned, ordinary people are forced to become heros..because no-one else will be. A red cross worker was distraught because she knew no country would take 20 Rwandan orphans...they would have to stay there for the murderers to come. WHY couldn't we take them? For goodness sake, we have so much space, we have so much spare money (comparitively) but why would we give up on a couple of nights out a week for someone who is "not even a nigger"? We watch them die and then we go back and eat our dinner. Why should we not keep storing up luxuries? How about because we had a responsibility to help, to give up a little to save a lot. Tonight I feel sick at the sins of omission carried out by me and my people.
Did you know that the Hutus and Tutsis are actually the same people...They were colonised, by the Beligian I believe. They took aside the taller, lighter skinned Hutus with the more narrow noses. They told them they are called Tutsis and they were treated differently, they helped the colonisers, they oppressed the Hutu. I understand why they did, they should take little blame. The massacre of the early nineties was the Hutu revenge. They waited for the west. The west never came, tutsis finally pushed the Hutus into the Congo after they had killed almost a million people. Children not only lost their lives, their parents, they lost their innocence. Pauls son for example will never be a child again. And yet we stand by and watch this all over the world. I think the most painful thing was the fact that they were waiting for us. They thought there was no way people could see what was going on there and do nothing, but that is exactly what we did. What we always do.
This blog should not be entirely depressing as not only was I shocked and ashamed...I was amazed and inspired by the courage of ordinary people. Of the redcross worker, the UN people, of the men and women who protected children who were not even their own. All of these people will never ever lose the pictures of what they saw and felt. Most of all I guess Paul was the one who blew me away. He risked his life SO many times to save people both Hutu and Tutsi. He saved 1268 people through shear courage, unbelievable courage. And cunning. It is amazing what people can survive and the possible moral brilliance of an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances. I feel concerned, I feel inspired and finally I feel READY to try to make a difference with my life.
It was an incredibly powerful movie. The fact it was true made it even more so. I have never before been in a movie where the credits rolled and you could hear people sobbing. I spent half the movie trying to stop my chest from heaving and the tears from actually leaving my eyes. It wasn't a horror movie (or at least that was not its genre) and yet I don't remember being so scared in a movie before.
Why do we all standby and let this happen, things like this. Paul (the Hutu hero) said that he was pleased that they had footage of one of the massacres because the west would do something...the photographer replied that he thought they would probably see it on tv, say oh my goodness that is terrible and then go back to eating their dinner...and it is so true, that is what we do! Those people were waiting for the west to intervene or at least protect them, but what did we do? well we got the white people out of there. We allowed 1 million people to be murdered in the most savage ways. The actions in that place only ten years ago are so incredibly horriffic...it WILL happen again! And what will we do? Well we will get our people out. We were their hope, they EXPECTED help and it never came. I wonder if that would have happened if it was Australians that were being killed. Actually I don't have to wonder do I?
The most powerful quote I found was this (from a disillusioned UN worker to Paul) "You are dirt to us (the west), You're not even a nigger, you're an African". Doesnt it feel/look like that sometimes. We let these people starve to death, children are murdered, orphaned, ordinary people are forced to become heros..because no-one else will be. A red cross worker was distraught because she knew no country would take 20 Rwandan orphans...they would have to stay there for the murderers to come. WHY couldn't we take them? For goodness sake, we have so much space, we have so much spare money (comparitively) but why would we give up on a couple of nights out a week for someone who is "not even a nigger"? We watch them die and then we go back and eat our dinner. Why should we not keep storing up luxuries? How about because we had a responsibility to help, to give up a little to save a lot. Tonight I feel sick at the sins of omission carried out by me and my people.
Did you know that the Hutus and Tutsis are actually the same people...They were colonised, by the Beligian I believe. They took aside the taller, lighter skinned Hutus with the more narrow noses. They told them they are called Tutsis and they were treated differently, they helped the colonisers, they oppressed the Hutu. I understand why they did, they should take little blame. The massacre of the early nineties was the Hutu revenge. They waited for the west. The west never came, tutsis finally pushed the Hutus into the Congo after they had killed almost a million people. Children not only lost their lives, their parents, they lost their innocence. Pauls son for example will never be a child again. And yet we stand by and watch this all over the world. I think the most painful thing was the fact that they were waiting for us. They thought there was no way people could see what was going on there and do nothing, but that is exactly what we did. What we always do.
This blog should not be entirely depressing as not only was I shocked and ashamed...I was amazed and inspired by the courage of ordinary people. Of the redcross worker, the UN people, of the men and women who protected children who were not even their own. All of these people will never ever lose the pictures of what they saw and felt. Most of all I guess Paul was the one who blew me away. He risked his life SO many times to save people both Hutu and Tutsi. He saved 1268 people through shear courage, unbelievable courage. And cunning. It is amazing what people can survive and the possible moral brilliance of an ordinary man placed in extraordinary circumstances. I feel concerned, I feel inspired and finally I feel READY to try to make a difference with my life.
posted by Simona at
10:29 PM
4 Comments:
So true, history can be so shocking and unbelievable.
People can be our own worst enemies, at times.
Good to hear you don't want to put up with it :)
I'll keep you on my list of Freedom Fighters ;)
By
Iain, at 7:51 PM
I saw this on the flight to Melbourne ~ not good preparation for a fun time really.
What has stayed with me is the scene of Paul deciding not to get on the truck with his family but to stay behind to save lives .......have I got that much courage and commitment??? Oh, how I hope so, but I also hope it will never be so tested!
Thanx Simona x
By
Elizabeth, at 4:26 PM
I saw it on Friday night with Lilly. I had read your blog but I'm pretty tough when it comes to movies and I didn't expect anything from it. (I've only ever cried in 2 movies). By half way through the movie I couldn't cope and just wanted to go to a dark corner and rock. I cried for half an hour after I got home. It was just too much.
I'll blog about it I think. There's too much to say for a comment.
By
Jo, at 6:24 PM
Iain...keep me on your list of freedom fighters...I may require a little fitness training first! lol. So true though...history is often far more disturbing than any fiction!
Elizabeth...I have the same thought...I can never imagine myself having that much courage but then I can hardly imagine leaving those people either! I guess he would never have imagined being that brave either. It seems like in some circumstances that courage comes out in ordinary people...man how much do I hope that I could be that person. But that fear is unimaginable to me and I don't know that I would be so courageous or so selfless!!
Jo...I know, I am not a movie crier either. But that was so traumatic even to watch let alone experience. I think it is worth a blog! It is unbelievable eh! It did just make you want to retreat off on your own and bawl eh! Too much! But when you think about the fact it actually happened and that there are people alive now who experienced all of this. I think Paul's son would be about our age now. I wish I thought that we would stop it if it ever happened again!
By
Simona, at 12:06 PM
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