Monday, July 27, 2009
I…I have nothing to say. I just finished the section on the Rwanda genocide in Orbinski’s book. Or, I finished it some time ago. I spent the last forty minutes sitting in my chair doing nothing. Thinking.
Hollywood films have the tendency to skim over brutal scenes. The image of a mutilated body flashes across our eyes, horrifically lifelike, but it remains for only a second, and the next scene comes, wiping the past picture from our mind and giving it no time to dwell on what we really just saw. Perhaps it is good that way – nobody wants to see stuff like that; the camera is doing us a favor by staying away from that, or least only lingering briefly. Orbinski does not offer the same kind of parental guarding of what he has seen. He spent the 100 days of the genocide as one of only three doctors in Kigali (the capital of Rwanda), the scene of the most intense and brutal crimes against humanity that the past century has seen. Orbinski spares no details, retelling his time there with a mix of cold medical precision and brutally honest feeling. His words paint a picture that imagination fleshes out, creating its own surreal film in my head – but there is no quick scene change to distract me. Orbinski was no stranger to humanitarian crises or (having worked amidst the civil war in Somalia just the year before), but Rwanda sent him over the edge. Just reading his story is enough to make me question how humans can descend to a point so low that they can brutally and meticulously kill off an entire race. I thought of describing some scenes from the book here, but I’d rather not. Think of the flogging scene in the Passion of the Christ (with machetes instead of whips), and then imagine it one MILLION times over (the amount of Tutsis killed in 14 weeks).
Actually, don’t imagine it. Stop reading this and switch to another scene. Maybe your friend’s latest photo album on facebook about their vacation in Hawaii, or the newest episode of your favorite tv show. Perhaps it’s better that way.
I’m sorry. I don’t mean to guilt trip you. I…I’m a bit rattled.
This afternoon Tristan and I move into the orphanage for a week. I’m looking forward to it. It will be a nice scene change.
Hollywood films have the tendency to skim over brutal scenes. The image of a mutilated body flashes across our eyes, horrifically lifelike, but it remains for only a second, and the next scene comes, wiping the past picture from our mind and giving it no time to dwell on what we really just saw. Perhaps it is good that way – nobody wants to see stuff like that; the camera is doing us a favor by staying away from that, or least only lingering briefly. Orbinski does not offer the same kind of parental guarding of what he has seen. He spent the 100 days of the genocide as one of only three doctors in Kigali (the capital of Rwanda), the scene of the most intense and brutal crimes against humanity that the past century has seen. Orbinski spares no details, retelling his time there with a mix of cold medical precision and brutally honest feeling. His words paint a picture that imagination fleshes out, creating its own surreal film in my head – but there is no quick scene change to distract me. Orbinski was no stranger to humanitarian crises or (having worked amidst the civil war in Somalia just the year before), but Rwanda sent him over the edge. Just reading his story is enough to make me question how humans can descend to a point so low that they can brutally and meticulously kill off an entire race. I thought of describing some scenes from the book here, but I’d rather not. Think of the flogging scene in the Passion of the Christ (with machetes instead of whips), and then imagine it one MILLION times over (the amount of Tutsis killed in 14 weeks).
Actually, don’t imagine it. Stop reading this and switch to another scene. Maybe your friend’s latest photo album on facebook about their vacation in Hawaii, or the newest episode of your favorite tv show. Perhaps it’s better that way.
I’m sorry. I don’t mean to guilt trip you. I…I’m a bit rattled.
This afternoon Tristan and I move into the orphanage for a week. I’m looking forward to it. It will be a nice scene change.
posted by thomassanz at
12:15 AM
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