Tue 10 Oct 2006
Today I would first I would like to thank two readers who took the time to make comments on one of my poverty-related posts. Rosie from San Jose recently added her thoughts in response to comments my mom had made about the relationship among homelessness, mental illness and drug use. Thanks to Rosie and my mom for contributing to the discussion.
On a different note, tonight (October 10th) HBO is airing a documentary, called The Journalist and the Jihadi, about the beheading of journalist Daniel Pearl by Pakistani militants. This promises to be interesting material with some useful insights into the world situation. Unfortunately my hotel doesn’t have HBO (or a microwave for that matter), so I won’t be able to watch it tonight. Any readers who have watched this documentary, please leave a comment and share your thoughts about the film and its subject matter.
Since we’re on the topic of documentaries, I am including here a list of other relatively current documentaries on the “interesting and relevant” list. The film title appears followed by the Rotten Tomatoes Freshness Rating (in parantheses) and a description of the film.
An Inconvenient Truth (92%) – A basic overview of the causes and expected effects of global warning
Who Killed the Electric Car? (90%) – An investigation into the political and economic factors contributing to the failure of electric car in the automobile market
Africa Open For Business (n/a) – A look at the influence of global trade in Africa, airing on PBS this fall
Invisible Children (n/a) – A film about child abductions by militant groups in Uganda
Do your brain a favor, watch a documentary. Then come back to this post and make some comments about the film and its content.
The Salt Lake City ONE Group will host showing of Invisible Children sometime in upcoming weeks. KereAna, when you know the time and location of the showing will you advertise it within the comments of this post?
October 10th, 2006 at 5:28 pm
I’ll start the discussion off with some thoughts about the film Invisible Children. In this documentary three college-aged kids from the U.S. examine child abductions in Uganda. Their account is dramatic and very personal.
The filmmakers interview children who live in constant fear of being abducted by militants. The militant groups brainwash abducted children into fighting for their army. The brainwashing is accomplished through torture and exposure to extreme violence.
However, the film ignores the basic economic fact that child abductions are the by-product of the larger problems of widespread poverty, economic instability, and violence. Accordingly, child abductions continue to occur in many parts of Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
The makers of the film invite viewers to join them in an effort to end child abductions in Uganda. While this is a noteworthy cause, these efforts will be largely ineffective as long as conditions of extreme poverty and government corruption persist in the region.
In short, efforts to end child abductions should be paired with broad economic development and political reform efforts. However, the film neglects to properly frame the issue of child abductions within the larger context of overall economic stability in Africa.
October 11th, 2006 at 7:22 am
I recently saw “An Inconvenient Truth”. I enjoyed it. I learned from it. But, I had a lot of questions afterward. I felt like he did a lot to convince us there’s a problem with global warming, but he didn’t spend enough time telling us what we as individuals could do about it. I later came across his book at Barnes & Noble and found a good section in the back that took care of that for me.
Another thing that ate at me throughout the movie was the excessive shots of Al traveling by car (as a passenger in the back – leaving me to imagine a pretty large gas guzzling car) and in airports or on planes. He kept talking about the negative effects of modern society and our waste of energy – yet if he wasn’t depicted traveling he was seen doing a power point type presentation in front of three large screens.
I have no personal bias against the man and I really appreciated seeing a politician doing some real learning and teaching instead of lobbying and arguing and generally annoying the public.
I found it an eye opening movie, and I’m not totally ignorant of environmentalist issues. And as a reading teacher I can’t help but say – the book is better!
October 14th, 2006 at 9:55 am
Sarah,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I felt the exact same way when I watched “An Inconvenient Truth.” I felt like it was more a good overview of the topic, than a thorough analysis of all aspects of the global warming debate. I’m sure there are some books out there which discuss the topic much more in depth.
October 20th, 2006 at 1:10 pm
Hey everyone in the Salt Lake City area!
Just wanted to let you know when and where the showing for “Invisible Children” is going to be. It will be held in the Union Theater at the University of Utah on Thursday October 26, 2006 at 7:30 p.m. This will be a great, FREE, opportunity to learn a little bit about what is going on in the world today.
Also if you would like to learn more about the ONE campaign, come to the movie and find a ONE group member who will gladly tell you all about it.
Hope to see you there!