Hotel Rwanda is a 2004 historical drama film that tells the story of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide in which more than 800, 000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were massacred by extremists backed by the Hutu-dominated government (George, 2004). The film stars Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu who while serving as a hotel manager at Hotel des Mille Collines managed to save more than 1,200 refugees in the hotel by paying off the military to keep off the hotel (George, 2004). The film tells of a true story in which one man determined to show utmost mercy and kindness managed to save many lives in the midst of tough circumstances. The theme which stands out in line with Christianity is that there is a price for everything just as Jesus Christ was the ultimate price for the redemption of humanity.
In film, Paul is some kind of Messiah comparable to Jesus Christ in a remote way because he pays for the salvation of the needy Tutsis and Hutus while they are at their most desperate moment. All the Tutsis including innocent children were condemned to die in the ethnic cleansing that was meant to wipe them out completely. Their situation is similar to what is described in Romans 3:12 “all have turned away, together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one”. The Tutsis were condemned and shown hostility by not only the local Hutu extremists but also the international community turned a deaf ear to their plea for mercy. Likewise human beings are depicted as facing hardships from the world and evil that does not show them any mercy.
The disobedience that man showed towards God in Genesis condemned him all humanity to death through sin. Although the Tutsis did not deserve death, human beings deserve to dies for their disobedience and sin. However, Jesus Christ came through for the redemption of all. He did not discriminate for whom he died as depicted in the film that Paul paid a price for the redemption of any person facing death regardless of their age, sex family relations among others.
The scenario in the film seems to recount the words in Romans 5:6 “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly”. To a great extend the negative ethnic profiling of the Tutsis evidenced by the many insults hurled at them for instance being labelled “cockroaches” showed that they were ungodly, evil and did not deserve mercy. However, Paul, a Hutu, out of compassion had mercy on the Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
In a similar fashion that Jesus Christ suffered and died for the sins of mankind, so was Paul Rusesabagina depicted to have paid a price to redeem each refugee at the hotel. Paul paid for the redemption of his family and neighbours by bribing the army officers. He even negotiated a price for each of them. As long as bribes kept flowing towards the militia, the refugees were safe but when they began to run out, the protection declined. In similar fashion, Jesus taught that humanity should take advantage of Jesus when he can be found and obtain grace because grace will run out an in its place will be judgement. People will face eternal fire or eternal life.
In all, the film Hotel Rwanda when interpreted from a Christian perspective shows the importance and need of a saviour. Jesus Christ is the redeemer of the ungodly and he paid the price for our freedom and eternal life by dying on the cross. Paul Rusesabagina saved the life of more than 1,200 people from obvious death although he faced dangers and threats to his own life to teach Christians to carry the burdens of other people and be willing to pay the price following in the example set by Jesus Christ.
References
The Bible. The Book of Romans.
George, T. (Dir) (2004) Hotel Rwanda. Film.
