"God is Great"

no really, He is. Just take notice to all the wonderful gifts He has given to us. War, injustice, materialism, corruption, capitalism, ignorance, stubbornness, apathy, discrimination, deception, arrogance - the list can go on and on, but i will hold off here because i would like delve further into this particular idea.

some would argue that these qualities are not gifts from god, but originate within man himself, his natural error or original sin. Whichever it may be, i'm certain that we can all agree that the infrastructure of this isolated, distant and practically nonexistent war we find ourselves a part of is built from ideas like hate, prejudice, narrow-mindedness, culturally insensitivity, disinterest, and most importantly exploitation - this word and several others that i have already mentioned have redefine what America truly stands for.

Countries which this nation has "liberated" are not so at all. America has enforce democracy around the globe claiming to have organized a perfect government(but far from it). Our democratic republic or republic democracy, whichever you prefer, is highly unfair, one-sided and insulting. This government favors capital. It favors the wealthy, the profit and possible investment. that is all, nothing more, nothing less. we have no faces. we are merely statistics. numbers, that if calculated accurately will produce profit.

2752 casualties in the world trade center.
Profit??


23,785 American casualties in Iraq
Profit??


57,805 Iraqi casualties since military intervention
Profit??






I pose this question now, have these unfortunate events inspired this trend of new films or are then being made only for market value?

In America, media shapes culture and I may even go as far to say that it defines and manipulates this society and is the reasoning behind why these international, sometimes "indi" films have become so popular in Hollywood.

Of course however, this phenomenon is by no means new or entirely detrimental. Before 2001 how many middle-Eastern actors has anyone seen in film? How films were actually made about any of those countries? I would bet close to none. And i bet this sort of thing has happen before with African Americans, Hispanics and now its their turn. A new idea, event or race becomes publicized, film will both be influenced then inevitably shift its role as an influencer.

We can now see that through films such as "The Outsiders," or "In This House" and many of the commercial films that i have previously mention that Internationalism and difference is becoming more widely accepted. Some experimental film may never find its way, but its better off. Mounir Fatmi and Akram Zaatari have something in common, they are both radical in thought. Hopefully, America adopting foreign filmmaking styles isn't just a fad and this country can truly respect and learn from these other "ways of seeing."

This particular class was truly an awakening experience.