Cleanskin
Because someone pointed out to me that I haven't posted in a while and because almost every movie has a message beneath the surface - and this one is not even that deeply buried.
Cleanskin is a movie about an agent sent to clean up on the hush hush, basically an assassination job meant to eliminate the people behind a bombing attack. And when I read it like that it was not something I felt too inclined to watch - but I did anyway because it was brought to my attention that there might be more to the movie than that synopsis.
What this movie does, however, unlike most action movies in a similar situation, is present both sides. The suicide bomber's evolution from an agnostic studying law to, well, suicide bomber, is presented in more detail than you would expect. And the sad part is, it makes sense.
I will not sit here and reveal to you the movie and how it manages to make sense of something most Western people do not understand. It's hard to understand - when all your life is made up of is going to a job, shopping and occasional traveling to places untouched by war - why someone would simply put a bomb on himself and detonate it, targeting people like you who have done nothing to hurt the people detonating it.
But, haven't they? Turning a blind eye people doing wrong in your name, people who are supposed to be representing you... is that not also wrong?
"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."
What I want to ask is - if you do decide to watch the movie - pay lots of attention to the bomber's story and his suicide message at the end. It's long - some would say too long - but every bit of it makes sense.
I am not sitting here trying to excuse 9/11 to anyone. God knows, every bombing is an atrocity.
But bare this in mind:
Every single time a bomb will hit collateral damage (and it always does, no matter how many times politicians will say they're doing their best), one moderate man will be turned towards hate. And that's how terrorists and suicide bombers are bred. This is why organizations like Hamas place their people and assets among people that have no involvement in the war and among children. They are bating the armies - and guess what, the armies never learn - to strike. And every time an army strike, Hamas recruits new members.
If at some point someone would just say, OK let's just stop. I am not saying drop your weapons. By all means defend yourselves. But stop attacking.
If at some point someone would try that, there will be a lot of moderate people that will stay just that: moderate. And moderate people don't detonate suicide bombs.
Of course, there will always be deranged people who will become terrorists for the thrill of it (no matter what they say and what religious arguments they offer), but let's be real here. Those are on both sides. The deranged Western kids turn to school shootings. The deranged Middle-Eastern kids turn to suicide bombings. Those are accidents of genetics and life and as much as we try we cannot prevent them all. But if we could all just stop turning normal people into deranged people, that would be great. And the only way to do that is to just stop killing their kids.
What this movie does, however, unlike most action movies in a similar situation, is present both sides. The suicide bomber's evolution from an agnostic studying law to, well, suicide bomber, is presented in more detail than you would expect. And the sad part is, it makes sense.
I will not sit here and reveal to you the movie and how it manages to make sense of something most Western people do not understand. It's hard to understand - when all your life is made up of is going to a job, shopping and occasional traveling to places untouched by war - why someone would simply put a bomb on himself and detonate it, targeting people like you who have done nothing to hurt the people detonating it.
But, haven't they? Turning a blind eye people doing wrong in your name, people who are supposed to be representing you... is that not also wrong?
"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor."
What I want to ask is - if you do decide to watch the movie - pay lots of attention to the bomber's story and his suicide message at the end. It's long - some would say too long - but every bit of it makes sense.
I am not sitting here trying to excuse 9/11 to anyone. God knows, every bombing is an atrocity.
But bare this in mind:
Every single time a bomb will hit collateral damage (and it always does, no matter how many times politicians will say they're doing their best), one moderate man will be turned towards hate. And that's how terrorists and suicide bombers are bred. This is why organizations like Hamas place their people and assets among people that have no involvement in the war and among children. They are bating the armies - and guess what, the armies never learn - to strike. And every time an army strike, Hamas recruits new members.
If at some point someone would just say, OK let's just stop. I am not saying drop your weapons. By all means defend yourselves. But stop attacking.
If at some point someone would try that, there will be a lot of moderate people that will stay just that: moderate. And moderate people don't detonate suicide bombs.
Of course, there will always be deranged people who will become terrorists for the thrill of it (no matter what they say and what religious arguments they offer), but let's be real here. Those are on both sides. The deranged Western kids turn to school shootings. The deranged Middle-Eastern kids turn to suicide bombings. Those are accidents of genetics and life and as much as we try we cannot prevent them all. But if we could all just stop turning normal people into deranged people, that would be great. And the only way to do that is to just stop killing their kids.
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