Movie Review: Hotel Rwanda

Hotel Rwanda

Saw the movie last night. Don't know where to begin.

Maybe because it's the story of a different genocide (other than the Holocaust) and one that I'm not used to, I found myself reacting quite emotionally, viscerally, and in tears.

As I age and appreciate the inherent beauty of life even more, it becomes more and more difficult for me to comprehend this type of human behavior.

And as Tamar pointed out, "it's going on now in Darfur."

My brother, Barak, is organizing to raise awareness, but somehow, it's so easy for us to, as they say in the movie "see it on TV, say 'isn't that terrible,' and then go back to eating their dinner.'

We've seen what happens when the US gets involved, like we did in Somalia and from a removed, strategic perspective, it's easy to explain why the US/West doesn't/can't get involved. But, there is a human level here and something has to be done. That is the lesson of the Holocaust.

Many writers have commented on the uniqueness of Al-Qaeda as a supra-national network that is organized for militant evil.

What if there were a supra-national network organized for good?

It's clear, to me at least, that in cases like Rwanda and Darfur, we're not going to be able to negotiate the end of the massacre.

Wouldn't it be cool and almost super-hero-esque to have a group of people who were dedicated to the idea of protecting the innocent from massacre, without thinking about geo-political consequences (and not even being part of a state for that matter) but who had the weaponry and firepower to go and just kill the perpetrators of the Darfur massacre. That would send a message.

I bet there would be people willing to finance it, too.

I'm still shaken by this movie.