open the eyes of my heart
Tonight I saw "Blood Diamond" with Natasha and Jenny and never have I ever actually wanted to leave a movie until tonight. In the beginning, I could feel myself just knowing that I'd be looking forward to it ending and going to eat. After an hour, I checked my cell phone.
But the reason why I felt so squeamish was not because it was a bad movie. It was because the matter it dealt with was evoking emotions that were too strong.
I walked out of that theater not understanding why our world has to be the way that it is. I wasn't thinking about the acting, or even the specific characters in the movie, how their lives intertwined or how the plot unfolded. I thought about how there are people living in that kind of situation right this second.
I don't think I've ever seen a movie that depicted refugee camps and people living off of international aid programs. I think, in a way, it bothered me. I mean, I understand that movies are supposed to show real life. There are movies about... families and Christmas and high school and true love and everything else. But maybe it was because Blood Diamond showed the lives of people who have no other choice but to live in extreme poverty. I watched the extras, the scenery--there was no fantasy element to it. It was harsh reality. It was not an escape.
At the end of the movie, it told us that there are 200,000 child soldiers in Africa right now.
What can I do?
I just feel so helpless. Sure, I'll pray. But there was this one part in the movie where someone said that he felt that God had left Africa long ago. And then this other part, when Solomon is talking about when they will live in peace.
Can you just imagine always living a life waiting for and expecting peace? Just living with hope? I felt so cynical, but I just couldn't help thinking: it's more likely for them to die than for them to witness peace in their country.
I am so fortunate. And this is just because of the place that I live. We're all the same. We're all human. So what makes me different? What makes me deserve to be able to just sit here, sleep here, and go about doing whatever I want without having to worry about my life?
We all deserve that.
I'm not trying to be all... SAVE THE WORLD or anything. I'm just perplexed and thinking very hard. And I don't want to forget how I was feeling in that movie theater.
On one side, I was sick of seeing movies depicting and sensationalizing human tragedy. And then on the other side, I know that this spreads awareness. But at the same time, doesn't also just put these issues on the same level as the fictional stories depicted in other movies? Doesn't it also somehow bring it a level away from our own realities? I think it can go either way: either you can distance yourself from it because it's on a screen in a movie theater, or it brings it closer to your own reality. And I think it just depends on who you are.
But the reason why I felt so squeamish was not because it was a bad movie. It was because the matter it dealt with was evoking emotions that were too strong.
I walked out of that theater not understanding why our world has to be the way that it is. I wasn't thinking about the acting, or even the specific characters in the movie, how their lives intertwined or how the plot unfolded. I thought about how there are people living in that kind of situation right this second.
I don't think I've ever seen a movie that depicted refugee camps and people living off of international aid programs. I think, in a way, it bothered me. I mean, I understand that movies are supposed to show real life. There are movies about... families and Christmas and high school and true love and everything else. But maybe it was because Blood Diamond showed the lives of people who have no other choice but to live in extreme poverty. I watched the extras, the scenery--there was no fantasy element to it. It was harsh reality. It was not an escape.
At the end of the movie, it told us that there are 200,000 child soldiers in Africa right now.
What can I do?
I just feel so helpless. Sure, I'll pray. But there was this one part in the movie where someone said that he felt that God had left Africa long ago. And then this other part, when Solomon is talking about when they will live in peace.
Can you just imagine always living a life waiting for and expecting peace? Just living with hope? I felt so cynical, but I just couldn't help thinking: it's more likely for them to die than for them to witness peace in their country.
I am so fortunate. And this is just because of the place that I live. We're all the same. We're all human. So what makes me different? What makes me deserve to be able to just sit here, sleep here, and go about doing whatever I want without having to worry about my life?
We all deserve that.
I'm not trying to be all... SAVE THE WORLD or anything. I'm just perplexed and thinking very hard. And I don't want to forget how I was feeling in that movie theater.
On one side, I was sick of seeing movies depicting and sensationalizing human tragedy. And then on the other side, I know that this spreads awareness. But at the same time, doesn't also just put these issues on the same level as the fictional stories depicted in other movies? Doesn't it also somehow bring it a level away from our own realities? I think it can go either way: either you can distance yourself from it because it's on a screen in a movie theater, or it brings it closer to your own reality. And I think it just depends on who you are.