Hotel Rwanda - the movie and the facts.

[Stinky The Clown]

I rented this movie at least two weeks ago at Blockbusters. Thanks to their no late fees policy, I didn't have to hurry to return it.

But today's the day ... maybe. I haven't watched it because I think it will be a serious downer. Don't get me wrong. I am not at all unsympathetic about the issues it portrays. I just don't know if I can bear to watch it.

So ... should I watch it or not?

Even though the events there are largely over and the guy Don Cheatle plays is a true and acknowledged hero, to watch it will put me in mind of Darfur. There the struggle is VERY real. VERY now.

And speaking of Darfur .... why does this issue get so little airing here on DU? Even Iraq, where I believe we are allowing (at best) or causing (at worst) mass civilian casualties, it can be argued we're at war. (Please don't debate that issue here. I think we were wrong to go in and wrong to be there).

But Darfur is out and out GENOCIDE. No debate. That's what it is. If anyone in the US *really* feels like they wanna go shootin' guns an' shit, why not there? At real bad guys? And to my fellow DUers ... where's the outrage?

[keithjx]

1. The movie is excellent.

I didn't know jack about the whole thing, so it was a really good watch for me. Atrocious, yes, but definitely worth watching. Take 1.5 hours out of your life and do it.

As for why Darfur doesn't get more DU coverage? No idea. Maybe we get too consumed with the small, medium, and big shit that's going on here and we lose sight of the enormity of the problem there. Not an excuse, of course.

KJ

[Kire]

2. watch it!

and then bring it up here on DU! you won't sound so hysterical on the issue after you've watched it

BTW, you should be unsympathetic

[Stinky The Clown]

10. "BTW, you should be unsympathetic"

Don't be so cryptic ...... why should I be unsympathetic about Darfur?

[Adelante]

14. I didn't understand that, either

:wtf:

[Kire]

16. what's there to be sympathetic about?

a million dead bodies hacked with machetes? happening in our time?

[uppityperson]

18. Ah, sarcasm. And you mean "still happening NOW"

too subtle for most of us

[Kire]

21. sorry

I actually figured I'd have to explain it. I'm not great at saying what I mean and getting it understood the first time.

BTW, I was NOT being sarcastic. Maybe I'm just too angry for "most of you".

[uppityperson]

30. Angrier than "most of you" for why, what, huh? thanks.

Anger that these crimes are being done? That they are being ignored? That people notice and then go out and buy another latte? Could you explain more? thanks.

[Kire]

32. not "angrier than most of you"

too angry for "most of you" (to get my message across), your confusion proves my point

[Stinky The Clown]

31. That is still rather a cryptic reply

That ... or I'm even more of a thick head than I thought.

[DrDebug]

3. Yes, you should watch it

Darfur is far away so it gets little attention. Just like many genocides get little or no attention. Let's face it, only former Yugoslavia is under investigation and that took quite awhile and it'll take even longer to finish that.

Watching it is good because it confronts you with what don't want to know, so sit back, relax and follow the story.

[OneMoreDemocrat]

27. I think it has more to do with the distance between us and them....

and the fact that it was 'black' people who were the victims and the victimizers.

Had the same thing happened in Scotland or Australia, I'm sure things would have been different regarding the MSM's interest.

[DrDebug]

28. That's what I meant as well

Yugoslavia was part of Europe and therefore attracted a lot more attention. Africa doesn't get any attention. Neither does Tibet which is a cause which I have been active in (if 200 people show up for a demostration then it's a big crowd - luckily it does get press).

It's not even merely a black thing, but more a combination as well. Central Africa consists of the poorest countries in the world and the gap is huge. South Africa can make some headlines, but Central Africa can't.

Take Congo. What do you we here about that country. It's not stable, enormous atrocities have taken place, but it's out of sight, out of mind. It has just adopted a new constitution. I didn't see it on LBN and even I posted it, it would disappear with 0 replies and 0 nominations.

Please don't take this as an argument that the people here don't care. They do care and care a lot, but the distance is too far; we prefer to talk about things which we can relate to and most of us - including me! - can't relate to countries like Rwanda, Congo etc.

[Goldmund]

4. Yes, you should watch it

And yes, it's a downer.

[Gildor Inglorion]

5. Watch "Hotel Rwanda"

It's ghastly and realistic, but surprisingly not a major downer. It's great movie-making about a story that needs to be told. As for Darfur, I'd much rather see our troops intervene in that situation than be in Iraq making the world safe for the oil plutocracy. Or kleptocracy...or whatever the hell those slavering, greedy bastards are.

[Adelante]

12. Oh, yes

I also wonder something else, had there been a humanitarian international intervention back when Saddam was murdering 100,000 Iraqis, would we be where we are today? I know it does no good to wonder, but it passes through my mind every once in a while. Would it all have turned out differently? I dunno.

About oil, though, and the Sudan: the situation is that Bushco is collaborating with that murderous government so that "normal relations" can be restored -- and US oil companies can go into Sudan. No matter how many people have to die for it.

[cry baby]

6. WATCH...

and pay particular attention to the aspect of how the hate radio affects the situation.

[Solly Mack]

7. and then watch "Sometimes in April"

Darfur pops up every now and then on DU. The threads just sink like a rock.

There's one now in GD. Go sign the petition. Maybe it won't help...but it might.

on edit: I see you found the other thread. :)

Also this link in GDP on Darfur

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x1786001

[Adelante]

8. Watch the movie

Sign this petition:

Darfur: A Genocide We Can Stop: 600,000 people's lives depending on our actions

Then sign this petition:

Africa Action: Demanding U.S. Action to Stop Genocide in Darfur

After that, I wish to Christ I knew. :cry: 400,000 dead so far.

[KansDem]

9. I tried to rent it last weekend...

The local Blockbuster had 32 copies; all were rented.

[uppityperson]

11. Watch it. It's NOT over. UN is still helping it continue.

It is not over. It is still going on. Granted there are not 1 million Tutsis being killed every 3 months, but genocide is still happening there and in adjacent countries.

Watch the movie. Make sure to watch the extra bits too. Read "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families, stories from Rwanda" by Philip Gourevitch, 1998, for history leading up to the 1994 incident and realize it is still going on.

Doing research has helped me figure out wtf was going on then as the news I got in the USA was too confusing. Hutus killed Tutsis, with the ok of the Hutu government's military and peoples Interahawme. Tutsi's organized military force pushed back into the country, leading many Hutus to flee fearing they would do the same thing, genocide. UN set up refugee camps in Congo for fleeing Hutus. News media at this point is showing refugees and drumming up sympathy but many of them were not innocent refugees but fugitive killers. Regular Hutus wanted to go home, fugitive killers kept them in camps for human shields.

And it is still going on, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo. Genocidare Hutus still killing off Tutsis when they can, then retreating to refugee camps for food and medical care. UN can't close refugee camps because then the humanshield refugees get killed. BAH!

Here's a UN news website I just found.
http://irinnews.org
Check out the sections under Afria, lake area, Rwanda, Congo, Burundi. It is appalling.

[Tracer]

13. I have seen Hotel Rwanda ...

... and it's quite a good movie on a very distressing subject.

For a more realistic view of the Rwandan situation, you might try to see "Shake Hands with the Devil" Ñ a brand new movie that even I haven't seen (but will make sure to).

It's told from the point of view of Romeo Dallaire, the Canadian who was in charge of the U.N. peacekeeping forces at the time of the genocide and who desparately tried to get the OK from Kofi Annan to allow his troops to destroy arms and forcibly stop the murders.

As we know, he was unsuccessful and it has haunted him ever since. I believe that he even attempted suicide.

[SmokingJacket]

15. Or read "We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed

With our Families," by Philip Gourevitch, which I read before renting Hotel Rwanda. I had to stop watching the movie 2/3 through because I couldn't stand the suspense of whether he was going to save his family. BUT it's wonderfully well done, and really does make clear WHY we need to step in in situations like this.

The book has more background, of course.

[tjdee]

17. Don Cheadle says that in the beginning of the dvd, about Darfur.

Don't worry, we'll talk plenty about Africans when they start bombing Americans.

[Village Idiot]

19. If you really want the straight poop about Rwanda,

read Col. Romeo D'Allaire's book "Shake Hands With The Devil (The Failure of Humanity)."

In late 1993 Dallaire was assigned the position of Force Commander of UNAMIR. Rwanda had just endured several years of bloody civil war which had been concluded with the Arusha Accords, and UNAMIR's mandate was to supervise the peaceful transfer of power to the new Rwandan government.

"As the death toll mounted, General Dallaire submitted a detailed plan for a Rapid Reaction Force. He needed 5,000 soldiers to dismantle the killing machine of the genocidaire and to stop the Hutu power movement. The UN Security Council rejected the plan. The United States even refused to acknowledge the genocide to avoid any legal obligations to help."


He pulls very few punches in the book, which is excellent, thorough and very thought provoking...

"I failed, yes. The mission failed. They died by the thousands, hundreds of thousands. That's why it's subtitled the Failure of Humanity.

It was overridden by the hatred and the racism and the fear and all the incredible horrific ways that human beings can destroy other human beings."

[lastliberalintexas]

20. You just might own that DVD by now

Unless Blockbuster has changed their no late fees policy, that is. I don't know the status of the settlement, but I know that the state Attorneys General were going after them for allegedly deceptive advertising in connection with the No Late Fees plan. I did a quick google search and found this article, but you might check with your local store for more information.


http://badgerherald.com/news/2005/03/30/blockbuster_settles_.php

[Stinky The Clown]

22. Our plan's different than that

We have the unlimited rental plan .... no limit for one set price and no lates.

[lastliberalintexas]

24. I'm glad to know that

and on edit- It's incredibly moving and incredibly depressing at the same time.

"We" don't care about Rwanda or Darfur or Sierra Leone or... because they are black folks and they mostly inhabit lands mostly devoid of oil. And we actually support the tyrants in Sudan because they are "Christian" and their opponents are Muslim, and the "Christian" leaders will let us drill for what oil is in that country when things are stabilized. That's the short answer, anyway.

[FrenchieCat]

23. Please watch it....Me personally, I'm still in tears

that will haunt me forever.

Darfur: same shit, different country.

Why don't we care more? Why is the fucked up Corporate media not even present? Where are we....the Liberals in this.

[Solly Mack]

26. The media doesn't care and they'll tell you it's because

their readers don't care.

Have you seen "Sometimes in April"? It explores the hate radio aspect of Rwanda a little more...as a radio personalitiy is on trial....but the story is his brother's story.

I can still see the bodies floating down the river from the actual news footage from when it was happening...that image will forever be burned in my brain.

[donheld]

25. It's very much worth seeing

I saw it in the theatre. It's not a happy movie, but still worth seeing.

[Dorian Gray]

29. The movie was my favorite last year.

It is depressing, and I cried throughout the whole film, from fifteen minutes in until the end. Despite that, it really gives you hope, as well. In individual heroism, which does happen. We humans are capable of great bravery in the face of adversity. That was inspiring. :)

[uppityperson]

33. Still going on, check out today's news story,DU link here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1479874

No, I'm not self promoting my DU link, I am just appalled that this shit is still happening NOW. And still enough people don't care because Newsweek printed an unimportant part of an important story in error so we don't have to obsess over the runaway movie star on a feeding tube argh!!!!!!!!!
Here's the direct story link.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=47145&SelectRegion=Great_Lakes&SelectCountry=BURUNDI-RWANDA