water pulls so strong, no one is around...

This blog will be constructed in parts...

Part One:

I'm not sure I'm a very thoughtful person. Not in the way that I'm not caring about others, but in the way that I think about things a lot. I have friends who think about things/issues/ideas so thoroughly and passionately that every aspect of their life is effected by it. Jamie is my quintessential example of this. I have never met anyone who thinks about things as deeply and intensely as she does. That is why I like reading her blog. Well, and because I like her. Today though, she was talking about a guy at the Mustard Seed - Paul. She said: "Most of the time I think he's talking shit, but that sometimes I choose to believe him, simply because it's more fun." I liked that. I think i need to learn to do that more often. Why do we always have to destroy other people's sense of reality in pursuit of the sharp edged truth? There are moments when it is more important to look at someone and simply choose to believe them because it is more fun for everyone involved.


Part Two:

I watched two different movies this week that struck me as being very similar. First I watched Kingdom of Heaven and a day later, watched Charlie Wilson's War. Sometimes, you really just have to respect Hollywood. Yes, I just said that. I think its one thing for celebrities to stand up and support a cause, but often the media just gives it a cursory nod and everyone forgets about it. But when big name actors/actresses chose to play roles in movies that deal with current issues so blatantly, their point becomes so well illustrated. Kingdom of Heaven, which came out a few years ago, was so well timed because to the language used to validate the War in Iraq at the time. Bush's propagating the war as a Christian nation's struggle against "infidels" was put into the context of the crusades and shown for the destructive, violent approach it was. My favorite moment in this movie is when Orland Bloom stands up and gives a speech just before the battle for Jerusalem begins. He says,

"It has fallen to us, to defend Jerusalem, and we have made our preparations as well as they can be made. None of us took this city from Muslims. No Muslim of the great army now coming against us was born when this city was lost. We fight over an offense we did not give, against those who were not alive to be offended. What is Jerusalem? Your holy places lie over the Jewish temple that the Romans pulled down. The Muslim places of worship lie over yours. Which is more holy?"

Thats not even touching the issues that plague Jerusalem today.

Anyways, on to Charlie Wilson's War. I have a few favorite moments in this movie. The first was when Tom Hanks visits the Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. I sat there watching, wondering where they got all those extras. And then the thought came to me that they really wouldn't have needed to. I'm sure today more Afghans are crossing the border into Pakistan to outrun the violence in their own country. Try to name a country in Africa that is not directly effected by the movement of massive numbers of refugees. What about South East Asia? The scene in Charlie Wilson's War is stunning because it is reality today.

Also, I think this movie ends with a clear and unapologetic message. Having being granted 100 times the approved budget for his covert war on the Soviets, Congressman Wilson can not even get a 1 million dollar school rebuilding project approved after they achieve victory. The other board members tell him that no one cares about some Afghan school. Their decision instead is to simply pull out of this country they've messed up without any plans for funds to rebuild it and this leaves off Wilson saying:

"These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we fucked up the endgame."

Its not too hard to draw the obvious line between mistakes made in the past to the current situation in Afghanistan. Like I said, sometimes, you've just got to respect Hollywood.