More musings about Cambodia, the Killing Fields, trendy and non-trendy causes [updated]

[koalathebear]

I was writing about the movie The Killing Fields yesterday and suddenly it occurred to me that every time I mention that movie, almost no one knows about it and I have to explain it. It's not a movie about a war/disaster that everyone's seen like Platoon, Life is beautiful, Schinder's List, Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, Gone With The Wind

Comments

[justmehere1971]

I agree and disagree...to a point. Ha...can I ride the fence any clearer than that? HA

[koalathebear]

*laugh* Yes I had the same thought. I was thinking: "I think they agree" :)

[ambergold]

I've seen it, I've seen it! *waves hand* And I know exactly what you mean about Cambodia-it was actually a teen book and not the movie itself as I watched it too young that really taught me/brought home to me all that had happened in Cambodia, an absolutely WONDERful and eloquent book called Children of the River. I've never forgotten it. And of course I remember it and could identify a fair amount with the characters in the movie, at least insofar as having grown up in a country fairly similar to Cambodia. As for your other thoughts, when it comes down to it every single country in the world acts based solely up on its own national self interest. If that self-interest takes the form of rescue or help to other nations or peoples, or if it will give the country/government a better name, all well and good. But in general, for countries to step in and help other countries, or stop such terrible crimes happening, they have to have a compelling personal reason first. As in the U.S with the war in Iraq(although I should say that I do

[koalathebear]

It's a difficult issue. Ordinarily I stay right away from politics and religion at my journal because first of all I'm not politically active and secondly I'm an atheist and I would hate to offend or cause any problems. Nonetheless, I have to admit when watching The Killing Fields again, I started thinking about things all over again.

I suspect it's a blessing I'm not polital. I have enough blathering chatter here. If I was political, I'd probably break my journal.

Papa Koala's thoughts on why Australia did nothing

[koalathebear]

put it in perspective : the Khmer Rouge thing happened straight after
the end of Vietnam war; America was defeated and humiliated, licking
its wounds and the psyche was "never again". witnessing what foreign
incursion and expedition could do and had done to a superpower, no
other countries were in the mood to repeat the unthinkable. more
importantly, Cambodia was landlocked, no resources, no strategic
values and NO OIL.

[kiaforrest]

{{{{{{{{{{ thank you }}}}}}}}}}}

[koalathebear]

No. Thank YOU :P Papa Koala still tells me: "When you were little, I always told you to think before you spoke." I think 'Think before I post' is also sensible :P

*hug* 对不起....

[winterspel]

There is so much to respond to in this post, and my brain is not really working too well lately, so I'll stick to just a couple things.

One, Cambodia and the horrific genocide is one of the things I've had on my novel research list (which is a list of every genocide during the 20th century) and your posts have been very enlightening. Thank you for sharing.

Two, your auntie wrote: I am so tired of people with no connection to WTC telling me that it changed their lives,

Heh. I was in DC that day and hiking out of the city after a plane hit the Pentagon, so I will always have that day and it's terror with me on a visceral level. To hear sounds and not know whether or not they were car bombs going off while I joined a human stream of people flooding the streets to walk out of the city however we could