Tuesday, May 25, 2010
An "Ordinary Man"
At the beginning of the movie "Hotel Rwanda", the introduction to the man who ran the hotel said that he "was just an ordinary man". But if he was just an ordinary man, then couldn't all ordinary men do what he did? I don't think that most people could do the things that he did, which makes him not ordinary at all. If he was an ordinary man, then there is really no excuse for other ordinary people not to have made such a hugh impact on the saving of lives as he did. But, obviously, most people didn't, and not just because they didn't want to or didn't try. So, I think that he is NOT an ordinary man, to be able to do such things. Maybe he had an ordinary life before the genocide, or a ordinary family, or ordinary hopes for the future. But his actions were anything BUT ordinary, and I think that his actions are what defines him as a person. Not many people would have the guts to do what he did, or the resources, or the patience. Many people might not even think of the idea, or have had the necessary prior business experience to pull it off. Paul was extremely calm almost the entire time, but still risked his life and saved over 100 people in immediate danger of being killed. That, I think is what makes an EXTRAordinary person.
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I think the producers or writers or whoever put that introduction in the movie were just trying to convey the fact that even ordinary people are capable of doing extraordinary things. I remember we had a class discussion a while back about how movie makers had such a conundrum on their hands:to get their message across, they had to make people want to come see the film. Essentially they had to make a movie about genocide that would make people feel good about themselves. I mean, I don't know how you felt about it but the scene at the end where Paul and Tatiana are walking down the road surrounded by singing kids is pretty darn uplifting. But I guess when you're making a movie about such an extraordinary man, it's a bit less of a challenge to make the overall message positive.
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