Film for thought

I saw two movies within the last week that I am still thinking about. Hotel Rwanda tells the story of one man's heroism during the Hutu Tutsi genocide. Watching it helped me to think about the suffering that has gone on in Africa, particularly in countries that have had recent wars. It gave an image to the stories that I may soon here from Liberian refugees and aid workers who were stationed in Liberia, Sierra Leon, Cote d'Ivoire and other war-torn West-African countries. The film also touched on the relationship between Africa and the West: the nature of Western intervention, economic aid, and racism. In one scene, a white UN officer has to tell his Rwandan friend that there will be no aid or peacekeeping troops. He attributed this to race and the West's lack or interest or concern for Africa. In another scene, all of the foreign nationals were evacuated, sometimes ripped from the arms of their Rwandan friends, and the Rwandans are left to face almost certain death. There were no exit visas and no room on the bus to evacuate Rwandans- only (white) foreign citizens please. The Rwandans listened desperately to reports on the BBC, listening for any hint of rescue, and they hear deliberations about "acts of genocide" versus full genocide- and a lot of political jargon nonsense.

The second film that has been on my mind is Crash. It is about racial relationships in Los Angeles. It is brilliantly constructed and manages to address very difficult and volatile topics without being overwhelming. This film tracks a serious of interracial reactions and shows the way that people are dehumanized on the basis of their race. When I say dehumanized, I mean that their ability to parent, protect their spouses, make a fair living, be physically safe- very basic functions of being human - are taken away. This film, better than any other I've seen touches on the complexity of race. The conflicts are not just black and white (pardon the pun) but multidimensional. Good people do racist things. Criminals make ethical decisions. The film incorporates interactions that are redemptive. In these scenes people are forced to see past a general label and instead see the needs and pain of a specific human being.

Between the two films, I realize how dangerous thinking in the general can be. Actions that restore people, actions that are positive - love, compassion, heroism, forgiveness - are usually particular, between specific people or parties. Actions that destroy are general, they are directed toward all of something without distinction - racism, stereotype, genocide. It seems like a lesson to be as particular as possible, to look directly at a person and see them for their particular uniqueness, not their membership in a group.