Global 2 Rwanda Essay

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Movies like “Hotel Rwanda” Which came out nearly 10 years after the events took place, opened many people’s eyes about the horror. The West had its eyes closed while Rwandans suffered across the sea. In fact 3 months before the attacks a man named Jean-Pierre had warned UN officials about the Hutus plans but they turned the other way. When they finally arrived the UN came to “peace keep” so they couldn’t attack the Hutus. Calling the help from the west minimal would be an understatement. They did little to nothing except send their pity if anything. Clearly the Rwandans received little to no help but for the most part fixed the situation and ended the genocide.

The movie “Hotel Rwanda” was Hollywood’s take on the true story of Paul Rusesabagina, a hotel owner who used his connections as well as bribery to save 1268 Tutsi refugees including his Tutsi wife and Tutsi by association children. He kept his hotel a secret by bribing the leaders of the local Hutu military. The Interahamwe, the militia who killed and raped many Tutsis, also gave him supplies such as drinks and food. They were under the impression that Paul was running a 4 star hotel so they didn’t bother him for the most part. He was helped out but not much by the UN team of peacekeepers, led by Lt. General Romeo Dallaire. He tried to keep the peace but he was sent back and he removed the Europeans staying at the hotel. An American news crew was sent there to cover the attack but they also left with the Europeans and Americans who got stuck. This left us with a heart wrenching scene of the white people leaving all of the Rwandans basically for dead. The General and the News crew were upset because they knew the danger they left Paul and his hotel in. The movie encompasses Paul running the hotel in hell. Hutu invade the hotel and he has to worry about his family throughout the whole thing. In the end he and his family and the rest of the people at the hotel are saved by the UN and sent to a camp as a trade for prisoner soldiers of the Hutu army. They end up being sent out of the country and make it out alive. The story was so unbelievable it was perfect to be a movie. The most important part was that it was all true. The terror that we saw in the film was the terror of a million Tutsis. They even showed real footage of people being killed and terrorized. That’s what made the movie so eye opening and guilt bringing for Americans, as it told a true story. It showed the Americans didn’t even care enough to call it a genocide. The movie taught a lot about the Rwandan Genocide to a mass amount of people and it was very important and accurate to the fight.

Overall although there were many genocides throughout history, this one was different. It was an amazing tragic story of Hutu and Tutsi and their t also was so recent some people didn’t know about it. It showed western ignorance as a nation both knowingly and unknowingly ignored another country in its hour of need. The Rwandan Genocide was very eye opening to many and taught people to listen more to each other and to not repeat this awful part of history