Reflection

Paul and Tatsiana in real life

The movie had a deep impression on me. At first, I did not know that there was actually a genocide at that time. As I started watching the video, I could realize the seriousness of the genocide in Rwanda. The movie depicted the corpses and genocide so vividly and with detail, that I could feel gooseflesh.

I think the movie was intended to inform the viewers of what had happened in Rwanda. Like I did, there might have been a lot of people who never knew about the genocide. The movie teaches some lessons of sacrificing and values of families. As well, the Hotel Rwanda affects the viewers' heart and emotions by showing some cruel scenes such as the dead bodies on river side, children dying, men being chopped, and a man trying to kill the main character. The extreme scenes make viewers to be involved in the movie and have more attention.



The movie actually affected me wanting to find more about it and learn from it. After watching the video, I researched more about the genocide and read a lot of news on it. More I research it, more I feel sorry for the people. I could not believe that there was the massacre in 1994 which is so recent. If there were some more help and attention from the other countries, there might be less damage and loss of the population. 800,000 people are too many to die. In about three months, 800,000 people died by the rebels. I can't even imagine how it would be in Rwanda at that time. It would be a lot more than what's in the movie.

Genocide in Rwanda

I never knew that in 1994, which is recent, there was a genocide going on. After watching the video and researching on internet, I realized that the genocide is the most inhumane thing I've ever seen. The innocent people died by the Hutu soldiers and civilians. Approximately 800,000 people died during the genocide. About 10% of population was murdered, including children, women, and old people. I had to doubt myself when I was watching the video since I couldn't believe that the genocide happened in the 20th century.

When I was watching the video, I was very confused. The genocide basically happened because of the past history of the ancestors, and also some greed that the people had to conquer one party in the country. If they wanted to have power to control over the place or wanted the other party to step back, then they could have a debate or some other ways. Killing 800,000 people was so insane because they were living on a same ground for years and suddenly started killing weak people. Even the U.S. and other countries couldn't stop or did not stop the massacre. In some articles, the U.S. people said that they did not know what was happening. Although they didn't know what was happening at that time, they could give some force to the country after noticing what had happened. When they considered the time as late, the genocide was still happening.

In my opinion, the people would be very confused and scared when their neighbors and friends were dying. Even in the movie, there were two friends drinking at the hotel bar and one of them was Hutu, and the other was Tutsi. They were friends and close to each other. But after massacre, everyone became confused of what to do for themselves and for the friends.

The media was very important in the movie, probably also in the real situation. The radio for Hutus was always talking about how Tutsis are enemies to them and how Hutus should do to get rid of Tutsis. Hutus also gave a sign of beginning of the massacre by the radio. The civilians who were hiding in the hotel got false and some true information on the massacre by the radio. Moreover, Paul wanted the people to call everyone they knew to save themselves and say goodbye. He wanted them to make sincere and pitiful voice so that they can be wanting to help them. The reporters at the hotel went out to film the massacre and broadcast the scene that would affect the world. Paul thought that it can affect everyone in the world and they would be saved soon. But the reporter said that the people will just feel sympathy and eat dinner. I learned that the media can affect people in different ways. It can make the people to react physically and come forward, or it can make people just to know what is happening in the world but not care afterward because the news do not seem connected to themselves. I drew a lesson that the media can be an effective way of spreading certain news, but it does not necessarily affect people to be involved in the news.