My English Rhet Comp teacher (she's not a professor yet) is showing us Hotel Rwanda for the second unit. Today, we got to the part where Cheadle's character, Paul Rusesabagina, is trying to cut a deal with Hutu soldiers to save his family and friends, most of whom are Tutsi.
If you don't know about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, I suggest reading this article.
So far, so gut-wrenching. I can hardly watch it without tearing up. It's bad enough that these people are split because of some faulty division created by the Belgians, but innocent people were being killed as a result. It's more about the exchange of power. I don't know if there is any information on why the Belgians decided to transfer power to the Hutus once they left the country, but needless to say, it wasn't a great idea.
It may seem politically incorrect to make an assumption in this kind of situation that senseless rebellion would result. It would appear that the person making that assumption has low standards for those people. But that's exactly what happened. However, you had some Hutus that ignored the rebellion, including Rusesabagina. It almost mirrors the situation in Iraq. You have innocent people that are going to be caught in the politics and violence going on, no matter what.
The difference is the world isn't turning a blind eye to Iraq. We have our soldiers there, but when the genocide happened, nothing was done.
I'm not an expert on this, but I'm observant enough to give my viewpoint.
We haven't finished the movie yet, so I guess I'll get back on this issue later.
I couldn't imagine this happening to me.
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it's happening in darfur.
a few days ago, there was a worldwide peace rally. i don't know if there was more than a peep of it in american media, sadly.
also, watch "sometimes in april"
It gives you a more complete picture on the Rwandan genocides, including the complicity of media and church officials.
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