Hotel Rwanda Essay Example for Free

Hotel Rwanda Essay Hotel Rwanda describes the rivalry between two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis. Both groups shared the same language, culture, territory, customs and beliefs but had different physical features and belonged to different ‘classes’. On the 6th of April 1994, the Presidents of Rwanda and Burundi were killed when their plane was shelled by rocket fire as it attempted to land at the airport in Kingali, Rwanda. The assassination of the Hutu president was attributed to the Tutsis just as a pretext to begin violence since it is believed his own people, the Hutus, murdered him. Then the genocide begins. The film focuses on the story of Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), a Hutu hotel manager at the Mille Collines, a Belgian-owned luxury hotel. We also learn early in the film that his wife and her family is Tutsi. Along with checking in guests, Rusesabagina must use his wise business sense to buy supplies from a rebellious Hutu who strives to get him involved in taking a stand against the Tutsis. As chaos ensues, United Nations forces, previously stationed to help, leave the Rwandans with nothing but their own will. Tutsi refugees turn to the Hutu Rusesabagina for help. Paul becomes the hero of the film saving over 1,000 refugees from death by harboring them in the hotel that he manages. Hotel Rwanda is a film made to show the world the violence and cruel things that were going on in South America. Nearly 1 million people were killed in less than 3 months. Paul Russesabegina (Don Chedle) was an amazing actor in the movie. He made a point. He was a true actor. He showed the viewers that he loved his people and wasnt going to let neither himself nor anyone else give up. European guests and staff at the hotel are flown out of the country, and Paul is left in charge. He finds that his conscience wont allow him to watch as the innocent are slaughtered, and before long, the hotel has become a well-appointed refugee camp. Some sees Paul as a traitor putting his life in danger. The predicament of his guests grows more precarious every day, but despite good intentions on the part of a journalist (Joaquin Phoenix) and a UN peacekeeping colonel (Nick Nolte), the rest of the world is not eager to intervene and stop the massacre. For me, the main theme of this movie is writing a wrong that is so terrible in nature that everybody is just unwilling to take a stand. The wrong is so unabashedly violent and righteous that everybody is willing to take a step back and wait for somebody to handle it. In this movie’s case, all hope was on the UN. However, only the foreign nationals initially got the aid of the UN. The nationals were left to figure things out on their own. In this case, Paul Rusesabagina became the unlikely hero. Doing the right thing at that time proved to be dangerous on himself and his family. It would have been easier for him to sell his soul rather than go against the majority movement. And yet, he did go against the tide and did the right thing by using his cool intellect and calm manner of dealing with his staff, the military, the militants and the rest of his family members and neighbors. Seeing death being done is bad enough. I can only imagine how devastating that can be. However, I understand his emotions when he saw his son traumatized by the situation. As a parent myself, I would not want any of my sons to witness such brutal acts of humanity on another human, let alone the violence that was done to the boy, too. Although Mr. Rusesabagina acted cool and composed in the film, I cannot help but wonder if, indeed, he was composed during the entire time he was still in the country. The atmosphere of the entire movie came across to me as harsh. That is, the scenes were unforgiving in their abrasive, visceral violence. The discordant scenes of killing and women being abused and disrespected were forceful. The film strived to be earnest and honest in the depiction of this inhumane genocide that affected the world. While watching the film, I was reminded of Hitler’s move to eliminate Jews from the world. This was WWII. It was and still is a horrible way of thinking. Yet, Hitler still found people to commiserate with his vision and ideal world. 50 years later, this genocide happens in Rwanda. Horrible. And yet, this incident did come to pass and it’s a true story. How can people treat their fellow human beings in this manner? Why act like savages when we have the capacity for love and compassion? What is it that drives such a crooked point-of-view to gain momentum? I’ve thought about this the whole weekend. The only answer I can come up with is that God gave mankind the gift of free will with our intellect and humanness. It is really up to us to use these gifts to the best of our ability. The choice to do right and wrong will always be upon us. Therefore, the consequences of our decisions and the foregoing actions that ensue because of these decisions will shape our lives. As such, the genocide that happened in Rwanda cannot be undone. But, we can learn the lessons needed to become better people. As with Paul Rusesabagina, his choice to fight passively with single-minded intention of getting his family and friends safely out of the country helped these individuals continue a life on this Earth. For just this trait, I salute him not only for standing on his belief and principles but for letting love and compassion identify the living force within him and having him translate this into the saving of human lives.