Hotel Rwanda movie is based on a true story of a man who against all odds tries to save people in the midst of genocide in Rwanda. It was an organized murder of almost a million Rwandans. He gives hope to people in a country when there is no hope left. Rwanda descends into total chaos and madness and the whole world opts out. Nobody wants to help the Africans as they are viewed as dung. He opens arms to the helpless and by this saves many lives. The movie is all about the atrocities conducted against humanity in Rwanda. The tension that existed between the Tutsi and Hutu led to the civil war. At the time, bribing and corruption were a way of life of the Rwandese. Paul Rusesabagina who is the manager of Sabena Hotel des Mille Collines is a Hutu, but he married a Tutsi wife. Hutu extremists are not to term with him because of his wife. Bribing continues in the movie as Paul pays the price for the safety of his family by bribing the general with wine and good scotch. He is portrayed as cunning and uses diplomacy and double speak to get his way.
George Rutaganda is a friendly supplier of supplies to the hotel but is also a brutal anti- Tutsi militia. Paul is portrayed as a strong character that is selfless. He tries the best he can to manage the situation in the hotel. He had to take good care of the refugees, divert the Hutu soldiers, maintain the appearance of the hotel since it was a world-class hotel and beyond all be strength to his family. As the situation worsens, he is unable to impress the Hutu leaders with bribes and turns to blackmail, and they are in turn let leave the war-ravaged country(Pearson, 2005).
In just a few days, the Hutu murdered 800,000 Tutsis, which was more than a tenth of the total Rwandan population. They did so using hammers, machetes, guns, and spears. The movie is very well acted and heart breaking.
The first sociological concept depicted in the movie. Belgian colonists had great influence on the development of Rwanda. After they took power from Germans, they put ethnicity into their card systems, which aided in differentiating Tutsis from Hutus. The Hutus were darker and shorter than the Tutsis. The Belgians entrusted the government administration to them. When the Belgians left, they left power with the Hutus. The Hutus had previously being jealous because of the treatment the Tutsis had received from the Belgians, and they advocated for revenge. They were up to revenging against the elite Tutsis who were in government.
Genocide in the country was the major sociological issue depicted in the movie. The Hutus were not to stop at anything they were up to ethnicity cleansing which meant killing all the Tutsis in the country. The genocide depicted in the movie, and the situation in Rwanda was retributive genocide (Pearson, 2005). The Hutus felt inferior compared to the Tutsis, and they opted genocide for them to grab power they had been seeking for long. This was due to the reason that the Belgians considered the Tutsis as more elegant and honorable than the Hutus.
The genocide in the movie brings sadness all over the country and the world. The Tutsi survivors are left in total sadness and depression after watching their family members being slaughtered by the merciless Hutus. From watching the movie, it is a sad movie. Thus, the world is also left devastated by the Rwandan situation. Leaders then wish they could have done something to help in stopping the genocide.
Ethnicity is the main issue that triggered the genocide. Although the Hutus and Tutsis spoke the same language, the differences in the width of their noses helped distinguish them. The Tutsis were also thinner. These differences as in the movie were used to differentiate the Hutus from the Tutsis. It helped aggravate the animosity between the two ethnic groups.
Types of societies is also another sociological aspect depicted in the movie. Paul was a Hutu married to a Tutsi (cockroaches) working in a hotel that was frequented by the Europeans. These three societies are in the movie Hotel Rwanda. The Hutus considered the Tutsis as a threat to their leadership ambitions. They also blame the shooting and killing of the Hutu president on the Tutsis. They thus felt the need to revenge. The European societies were frequenting the country for various reasons (Pearson, 2005). The UN peacekeepers also helped in the escaping of Paul and the 1200 refugees. Although the UN peacekeepers are in the country and watching the atrocities in the country, they are ordered not to engage the Hutus. As in the movie they are bystanders and do not act at all. In the history of the country, the Belgians introduced the policy of divide and rule as a way of weakening the country in order to exploit the rich resources in the country. The Americans, the Belgians, and the UN are portrayed as failures in the movie. They failed to act in time to stop the wanton and needless bloodshed. The movie fails in showing the tribal warfare progressing in the country because of tribal conflicts.
The dynamics of the conflict between the two tribes are insanely literal. This is because the Hutus were jealous of the beautiful and pretty Tutsis. The Belgians had also employee the pretty tribe and left the others without jobs. They thus felt unappreciated and inferior compared to the superior and honorable Tutsis (Pearson, 2005). The UN did send a few numbers of soldiers to Rwanda in a bid to keep the peace, but it was not executed. They were just other observers.
According to the movie, ethnicity is shown to have brought about the genocide. Paul is seen as the cunning hero actually a Hutu who is of a different opinion from the rest of tribesmen. He is able to save 1280 lives by hiding them in the hotel, he gives them hope to the Tutsi while the whole world is silent and not acting.
References
Pearson, K., & George, T. (2005). Hotel Rwanda: Bringing the true story of an African hero to film. New York: Newmarket Press.
