Movie Review by The Thursday Afternoon Movie Watchers
    Over the last three weeks we have watch three movies about Africa, Cleopatra, Shaka Zulu, and Hotel Rwanda. At first it seemed these movies had nothing in common, but upon closer inspection we noticed that all three movies are about European interference in Africa. In Cleopatra, it was Rome that conquered and exploited Egypt's resources. Rome demanded payments of so much grain that the people of the country were starving. In Shaka Zulu it was the English and the Dutch who were trying to settle in the southern parts of Africa. The slave trade was in full swing and that seemed to be the biggest natural resource the Europeans wanted. In Hotel Rwanda, we saw the fall-out of a Dutch Government pull-out. It seemed to us the Dutch were the root cause of the problems by dividing a previously unified people.
    Another common thread between the movies was that the Europeans never saw the Africans as real people. The Europeans were never able to meet Africans as equal humans also created in God's image. With the Romans that almost made sense because their gods looked like them and they were conquerers. However, in Shaka Zulu and Hotel Rwanda the Europeans professed to be Christians. It was very difficult for us to see the slave ship scenes in Shaka Zulu, because humans should not chain, rape, kill, or beat other humans. We could empathize with the slaves, but not the traders. No matter how hard we tried we could not ever imagine treating other people that way even if we disliked them. In Hotel Rwanda, we saw all kinds of people helping others. We think that is the way it should be. However, we also saw that it takes more than the power of individuals to prevent genocide. We feel Christians and countries that are primarily Christian have an extra duty to help keep the peace in this world. It often seems like animals that are on the brink of extinction get more attention and help than entire races of peoples.
    All three movies had people that inspired us and made us think about our world and how we treat others. In Cleopatra, Cleopatra was willing to give up her life for her people over and over. She inspired them with her love. In Shaka Zulu, the movie makers went to extra trouble make sure you saw the connections between Shaka and Christ. He was strong, brave, and inspired others to keep going beyond the usual limits of human endurance. He was especially Christ like when he left the settlement without killing all the whites when it was obvious that he could have done so easily. In Hotel Rwanda, Paul Rusesabagina uses all his wits, contacts and drive to save almost 1500 people. He saw his country fall apart and over 800,000 men, women and children killed in a massive act of revenge. We all hope that if we were ever in a situation like his we could act with half his courage and determination.
    After discussing these movies the question came up, “Should we be sending troops into Darfur?” Everyone of us thought that even if the UN didn't send more troops, the USA should figure out how to send Peace Keepers. We felt that even at these points in history, if more time was spent on finding peaceful solutions, tensions would not continue into each new generation. Everyone agreed to write their senator and represenative to tell them to continue to pressure the UN. We felt that when genocide is happening we need to make sure it is stopped.