Analysis Of Ethics On Film: Discussion Of Hotel Rwanda

It may be asking a little much to think that a movie can change the world, but perhaps what it can do is simply open a viewer 's mind to an experience outside his or her own, set the viewer on a path toward a broader understanding (Olsen, 2015). The decades following Rwanda 's independence from Belgium in 1962 saw growing ethnic tensions and periodic violent attacks and reprisals between Rwanda 's Hutu majority and its Tutsi minority (“Ethics on Film: Discussion of Hotel Rwanda,” n.d.). Thousands of Tutsis fled into exile in neighboring countries and in 1990 a failed invasion by a Tutsi rebel exile group sparked a civil war (“Ethics on Film: Discussion of Hotel Rwanda,” n.d.). On April 6, 1994, the Rwandan president, a Hutu, was killed when

In a preplanned campaign, these Hutu gangs killed roughly 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus over the course of 100 days (“Ethics on Film: Discussion of Hotel Rwanda,” n.d.). And, in full awareness of the situation, the international community did virtually nothing to halt the slaughter (“Ethics on Film: Discussion of Hotel Rwanda,” n.d.). Hotel Rwanda (2004) tells the true story of one man 's courage in the midst of this genocide (“Ethics on Film: Discussion of Hotel Rwanda,” n.d.). In the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, many prominent figures in the international community lamented the outside world’s general obliviousness to the situation and its failure to act in order to prevent the atrocities from taking place (“THE RWANDAN GENOCIDE,”N.D.). This all succeeds as riveting drama (Ebert, 2004). "Hotel Rwanda" is not about hotel management, but about heroism and survival (Ebert,

But the character 's conversion is not the climax; it 's only the beginning of his story—and of the film 's gritty and honest exploration of a messy faith (Hertz, 2011). After coming to Christ, ex-con and drug addict Sam Childers founded a Pennsylvania church and felt called by God to become a freedom fighter in East Africa (Hertz, 2011). After seeing the firsthand the tragedy of kids caught in Sudan 's civil war, Childers built an orphanage (Hertz, 2011). Not being content, however, with merely sheltering the kids targeted by the brutal Lord 's Resistance Army (LRA), Childers went on the offensive (Hertz, 2011). With hired Sudanese soldiers, Childers leads dangerous military missions to retrieve kidnapped children (Hertz, 2011). Kony took charge of the Holy Spirit Movement, which would eventually become the LRA (Craine, 2015). In its early years the LRA enjoyed support in northern Uganda, but as its resources diminished, the militia began to plunder the local population (Craine, 2015). The movement gained considerable strength in 1994 when it received the backing of the government of Sudan, which sought to retaliate against Kampala for its support of Sudanese rebels (Craine, 2015). Kony was armed with prophecies that he said he received from spirits who came to him in dreams (Craine, 2015). He ordered the LRA to attack villages, murdering,