Marc
On the Heartbreaking Work That Must Be the Life of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan: I took a few minutes out of my day to watch Kofi Annan: Center of the Storm, mostly because I had seen an interview with the director one night prior on the Charlie Rose Show and was immediately captivated by Kofi sitting in a room discussing the fact that he had no armies and no available resources to do any good in the world. He was a man who was trying to unite countries without coersion, which has to be one of the most frustrating and painstaking jobs in the world. Yet he seems to take it all in stride. The documentary seemed thorough and honest, and portrayed Annan in a favorable light, yet it felt like it was also a truthful light. He seemed to be a man who was truthfully out for peace, no matter what or where the path of that goal may lead him. When questioned about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict he blamed both sides for atrocities. Much of the focus of the film dealt with Afghanistan post-9/11, yet it didn't seem like it took a decidedly US viewpoint on the matter. Instead, it seemed to focus on the struggle of a failed country and how that particular state was able to breed terrorists, and how this shouldn't happen again, regardless of who those terrorists may have attacked. I generally felt empathy towards Annan, because his job must be difficult and thoroughly upsetting, given the increasing unilateral stance of the US when it comes to world affairs. Yet he seemed upbeat and up for the challenge and discussed, at length, how dreams for peace and autonomy in struggling countries don't come out of nowhere. They must be built from the ground up, and he sees this as his job.
If you've ever been curious about the workings of the UN, or are slightly interested in world politics, I would recommend seeing this film. I know it's playing again on PBS later this week, although much later at night.
Not only that, but there was a scene where Annan visited recently re-opened female schools in Kabul, Afghanistan, and the camera was able to capture images of small girls (ages between 6 and 9, I would presume) holding up signs with crude drawings of doves and the English word "PEACE" scribbled on them in what appeared to be crayon. Again, per our 8/28/02 discussion on films that make us weep, this particular scene also made me shed a tear (or two), simply because of it's sheer spontaneity and these little girls' hopes for a better tomorrow. For the past twenty years, far before any of them were born, the country had been experiencing war and uncertainty, and they were finally living within a time where a real, true peace seemed hopeful. True things get to me.
On HBO's recently DVD-released drama series, A Band of Brothers: This is a true story, as far as I can tell, and it's making me say things like "I can't believe ..." and "To think ..." over and over and over again. I'm somewhat angry that I didn't grow up during the WWII era, mainly because I feel like I've been cheated of a patriotic background. Now our goverment just seems sneaky and conniving and as if it only cares about the well-being of the well-to-do. Yet, back then it seemed as if there were a purpose and a cause to actually be fighting for. The whole world, save a handful of neutral nations, was fighting one another for good or evil. I would like to think that we were the good side, and I believe that we were, with special regards to the old men and women of our grandparent's (my grandparent's) generation that served and protected us. Yet I also realize that this is what they preserved -- the richest country in the world, yet one that is unwilling to give less than one percent of it's gross national product towards rebuilding a country that leveled two of it's iconic structures, not to mention the well-being of it's economy, just months after the incident occurred. I think that, back during the days of WWII, we weren't blind to the dangers that regimes like Hitler's Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan posed towards the American people. Now, though, we seem complacent and willing to accept our lot as the one superpower that can't be touched. What is there to fight, for us? A small band of Muslim soldiers training in a dessert location thousands and thousands of miles across the world? There is no BIG enemy these days, which, for some reason, seems more dangerous to me, no matter which way I look at it. Back then you knew who was "good" and who was "evil".
And it always brings me back to my own family's war-filled past. I am the first American male in my family to not have served the military in a time of war. Both of my grandfathers served during WWII (one on the Pacific front, though he never speaks about it to anyone, and the other on the European front, though, from what I can tell, he never really saw any combat). My great-grandfathers (as far as I've been told) served during WWI. And my father, the man whom I respect most in this world, fought during the Vietnam War, and he did see action. What seriously bothers me more than anything about talking with my father about his wartime experiences, or watching media like A Band of Brothers, is the fact that these things actually happened. It's not like the opening of Magnolia, where everything happens to be some freak coincidence. These are real, true-life tales told by the people that experienced them. My dad talks of how he never really thought that he would make it back alive from his positions in Vietnam, and he consequently lived his life accordingly. The men of Easy Company in the mini-series simply did what they not only were told to do, but what they felt they had to do. I think that, in essence, is the main part of this country's pre-occupation with WWII. The men didn't do what they did for glory or valor or personal honor -- they scrapped and fought and succeeded because they wanted to make their nation proud. Fundamentally, this is a quality that we lack today, no matter how you look at it. The exceptionalism that we felt we had during the days of both the World Wars is now gone. We, as Americans, are not the honorable people we once were. To me it seems as thought there's no way to recapture that part of our past. There's no way to bring back our innocence, and because of this we are going to suffer in the future.
I wish it weren't so.
On the Heartbreaking Work That Must Be the Life of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan: I took a few minutes out of my day to watch Kofi Annan: Center of the Storm, mostly because I had seen an interview with the director one night prior on the Charlie Rose Show and was immediately captivated by Kofi sitting in a room discussing the fact that he had no armies and no available resources to do any good in the world. He was a man who was trying to unite countries without coersion, which has to be one of the most frustrating and painstaking jobs in the world. Yet he seems to take it all in stride. The documentary seemed thorough and honest, and portrayed Annan in a favorable light, yet it felt like it was also a truthful light. He seemed to be a man who was truthfully out for peace, no matter what or where the path of that goal may lead him. When questioned about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict he blamed both sides for atrocities. Much of the focus of the film dealt with Afghanistan post-9/11, yet it didn't seem like it took a decidedly US viewpoint on the matter. Instead, it seemed to focus on the struggle of a failed country and how that particular state was able to breed terrorists, and how this shouldn't happen again, regardless of who those terrorists may have attacked. I generally felt empathy towards Annan, because his job must be difficult and thoroughly upsetting, given the increasing unilateral stance of the US when it comes to world affairs. Yet he seemed upbeat and up for the challenge and discussed, at length, how dreams for peace and autonomy in struggling countries don't come out of nowhere. They must be built from the ground up, and he sees this as his job.
If you've ever been curious about the workings of the UN, or are slightly interested in world politics, I would recommend seeing this film. I know it's playing again on PBS later this week, although much later at night.
Not only that, but there was a scene where Annan visited recently re-opened female schools in Kabul, Afghanistan, and the camera was able to capture images of small girls (ages between 6 and 9, I would presume) holding up signs with crude drawings of doves and the English word "PEACE" scribbled on them in what appeared to be crayon. Again, per our 8/28/02 discussion on films that make us weep, this particular scene also made me shed a tear (or two), simply because of it's sheer spontaneity and these little girls' hopes for a better tomorrow. For the past twenty years, far before any of them were born, the country had been experiencing war and uncertainty, and they were finally living within a time where a real, true peace seemed hopeful. True things get to me.
On HBO's recently DVD-released drama series, A Band of Brothers: This is a true story, as far as I can tell, and it's making me say things like "I can't believe ..." and "To think ..." over and over and over again. I'm somewhat angry that I didn't grow up during the WWII era, mainly because I feel like I've been cheated of a patriotic background. Now our goverment just seems sneaky and conniving and as if it only cares about the well-being of the well-to-do. Yet, back then it seemed as if there were a purpose and a cause to actually be fighting for. The whole world, save a handful of neutral nations, was fighting one another for good or evil. I would like to think that we were the good side, and I believe that we were, with special regards to the old men and women of our grandparent's (my grandparent's) generation that served and protected us. Yet I also realize that this is what they preserved -- the richest country in the world, yet one that is unwilling to give less than one percent of it's gross national product towards rebuilding a country that leveled two of it's iconic structures, not to mention the well-being of it's economy, just months after the incident occurred. I think that, back during the days of WWII, we weren't blind to the dangers that regimes like Hitler's Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan posed towards the American people. Now, though, we seem complacent and willing to accept our lot as the one superpower that can't be touched. What is there to fight, for us? A small band of Muslim soldiers training in a dessert location thousands and thousands of miles across the world? There is no BIG enemy these days, which, for some reason, seems more dangerous to me, no matter which way I look at it. Back then you knew who was "good" and who was "evil".
And it always brings me back to my own family's war-filled past. I am the first American male in my family to not have served the military in a time of war. Both of my grandfathers served during WWII (one on the Pacific front, though he never speaks about it to anyone, and the other on the European front, though, from what I can tell, he never really saw any combat). My great-grandfathers (as far as I've been told) served during WWI. And my father, the man whom I respect most in this world, fought during the Vietnam War, and he did see action. What seriously bothers me more than anything about talking with my father about his wartime experiences, or watching media like A Band of Brothers, is the fact that these things actually happened. It's not like the opening of Magnolia, where everything happens to be some freak coincidence. These are real, true-life tales told by the people that experienced them. My dad talks of how he never really thought that he would make it back alive from his positions in Vietnam, and he consequently lived his life accordingly. The men of Easy Company in the mini-series simply did what they not only were told to do, but what they felt they had to do. I think that, in essence, is the main part of this country's pre-occupation with WWII. The men didn't do what they did for glory or valor or personal honor -- they scrapped and fought and succeeded because they wanted to make their nation proud. Fundamentally, this is a quality that we lack today, no matter how you look at it. The exceptionalism that we felt we had during the days of both the World Wars is now gone. We, as Americans, are not the honorable people we once were. To me it seems as thought there's no way to recapture that part of our past. There's no way to bring back our innocence, and because of this we are going to suffer in the future.
I wish it weren't so.
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