Lord of War
Why am I fascinated by war so much? I went and saw Lord of War today by myself. I must say I found myself feeling quite disturbed. The odd thing that always gets me is how much as a male from my culture I have been conditioned to be in awe of guns and weapons in general. When I look at a semi-automatic weapon my first instinct is not revulsion but awe. Why does it take so long for revulsion to set in?
Is there something wrong with me that I sometimes enjoy violent movies. Does it expose some deep down suppressed desire of mine to be as Cain to Able? Am I in my heart any better then any other man? Is this just instinct?
More and more though I am finding violence abhorrent, though still often more of a second reaction then first. Buying weapons instead of food seems to have at least contributed to the horrendous levels of poverty in much of this world of ours. The debt from those weapons is still crippling nations. (I think a lot of the debt is from bonded military aid to dictators. Am I right Ben?)
The movie makes it sound inevitable that man will kill man. It suggests that man is evil and that the wholesale slaughter of people is unavoidable. However an alternative reading of Lord Of War would be the answer to violence and world conflict is free and fair trade.
I don’t want to hate anyone. I find it difficult some times. I really am tempted to scapegoat people and blame them for the evil I see. Instead of getting in to a cycle of blame and descending into hell, I hope to work instead towards building heaven here on Earth. For my own part I see myself using my skills to serve those whom I can.
To that end I am planing to arrive in India in about three weeks. I am going to enter an area of India that is slowing recovering from the waste caused by civil conflict. Working on a hospital project that should have significant impact on not just the local community but as a referral centre it will have a broader impact on the entire region as well. God please keep the peace process there on track. It would be sad for the hospital to be reduced to dealing with the injuries caused by man against man.
My life’s work probably weren’t change much on this earth. But everything is meaningless so I figure I might as well try and do some good.
Please note I am aware that I have not used gender inclusive language in this post. This is because I do not have sufficient insight into women to be able to work out if they share this violence. I don’t think they do as much so I left them out.
February 25th, 2006 at 2:39 pm
i saw the movie. i thought it was pretty good over all. what really struck me was that he couldn’t quit. he had the money, the girl, the life and he just kept going for one more deal. till he lost it all. then he went back for more. (much like the move blow, which i didn’t like.) i also like guns/violent movies. but usually find the death and destruction disturbing. like when i watch the hobit movies all i can think about is all the needless destruction.
February 25th, 2006 at 3:30 pm
I thought it was a pretty good movie. Like a lot of movie, it makes use of the theatre of violence (yes, I think we all find it (horribly) fascinating to watch) but has a message that is basically against small arms and cultures of violence.
The people we see being harmed are poor and defenceless.
The people we see being enriched are rich and amoral.
And you’re right, David, a lot of illegitimate debt owed by poor countries was accrued by dictators for arms purchases. Mobutu Sese Seko in then Zaire (now DR Congo), Marcos in the Philippines, Suharto in Indonesia, etc.