Hotel Rwanda

Paul: "How can they not do anything? Don't they care?"

Jack: "I think that when people turn on their TVs and see this footage, they'll say, "Oh my God, that's horrible," and then they'll go back to eating their dinners." 

- From the movie Hotel Rwanda

The previous Thursday(the Thursday before the last one), the History cohort got to watch the movie Hotel Rwanda, which is relevant to our current History study of the United Nations and its effectiveness. If you want to know why it took me so long to post this since I had watched it more than a week ago, just check my usual excuses in my previous posts. Anyways, this is my second History movie screening(the first was Thirteen Days), and there might still been a third and more in the future. 

Just in case any of you doesn't have a clue about this movie's plot and background, it's based on a true story that happened in the actual events of the Rwanda genocide in 1994. The ethnic conflict between Hutus and Tutsis raged on, killing millions of innocent people in the wake of the brutal civil war. The United Nations tried to intervene but could not effectively stop the conflict and there were shortage of manpower within the peacekeeping forces sent there to 'keep' the 'peace'. No matter how I see it, there simply wasn't any peace to 'keep'. Chaos is an understatement if you watched the film, much less the actual events that had occurred. 

The main character of the movie, Paul Rusesabagina, is a Hutu, married to Tatiana who is a Tutsi, together with their children had to sought refuge in a hotel named Hôtel des Mille Collines who he then became in-charge-of, then had to shelter hundreds of Tutsi and moderate Hutu refugees within the hotel. He bribed the leader of the local militia many times, the Rwandan Army and it was utter chaos. Only 4 UN peacekeepers were spared by the undermanned UN peacekeeping forces to guard the hotel. And they are not allowed to shoot. It gets worse every single scene, as people get massacred 'outside' and no one knows when they might be the next. They were living on a thin thread, there's always the possibility of getting killed just the next moment.

There was numerous close-calls for Paul and his family, as well as, the refugees who stuck together in order to survive, waiting day after day for UN reinforcements, intervention forces and relief forces. That eventually came, but only to evacuate all the foreigners back to their country, leaving the Paul and the natives behind. The rest... Well, I'll leave it to you to watch the film and find out how it went and ended. It's a very touching film, and it was meant to be a message for peace, and a solemn reminder of how harsh and unfeeling humans can be, even towards their own kind. 

Yes, this kinda movie brings out the brutal truth in such massacres and genocides. The amount of blood shed in the history of mankind is just... You know what I mean. There were wars and killings found in our history probably since the dawn of civilisation. Some call it a war, others call it a holy crusade, a jihad, some form of 'cleansing', a vendetta, whatever. Under whatever names you call it, it is still considered as mass killings, probably for a cause, whether it's justifiable or not. And in this case, there are hundreds of thousands were killed during the genocide. That's gotta count. It's just so horrible when you think about it.

The film reminded me of my school trip to Nanjing in when I was in Secondary 2. We went to the Nanjing Massacre Memorial and got to understand the events that happened during the massacre. It was during World War 2 when the Japanese invaded China and they massacred people in Nanjing. According to the memorial, a total estimate of 300,000 people were slaughtered. It was a painful sight to bear when I was there. Even after we got out of the memorial, I remained silent, in deep thoughts and reflection. Similarly, I did the same when I watched the film. I felt so... helpless as I watched the parts where people were getting slaughtered like they don't mean anything. I wished I could've done something, anything to prevent this from happening. It was so brutal that I can't help but feel bad. It's a heartbreaking experience. It prompts you questions that you wouldn't have asked yourself before. How atrocious and savage can we humans actually be? Even animals don't even kill their own kind. How can some people claim to be more superior, more important, just because of the colour of their skin? How can lives be just taken away like they don't matter at all?

When the movie is nearing its end, I've made a promise to myself. If I got the power and influence to do so, I will not let the same thing happen again. I'm not gonna witness any meaningless murders again. If I'm able to, I'll stop it. No, I'm not gonna let the same tragedy happen twice. Not if I can help it. Not on my watch.

Colonel Oliver: You should spit in my face.
Paul: Excuse me, Colonel?
Colonel Oliver: You’re dirt. We think you’re dirt, Paul.
Paul: Who is we?
Colonel Oliver: The West. All the super powers. Everything you believe in, Paul. They think you’re dirt. They think you’re dumb. You’re worthless.
Paul: I am afraid I don't understand what you are saying, sir.
Colonel Oliver: Oh, come on, Paul, you're the smartest man here. You got 'em all eating out of your hands. You could own this frigging hotel, except for one thing. You're black. You're not even a nigger. You're an African. They’re not going to stay, Paul. They’re not going to stop this slaughter.

- From the movie Hotel Rwanda