Constant Gardner...more than just a movie

We took in the 4:20 p.m. showing of Constant Gardner. I kept thinking this was going to be the new Bill Murray movie, though it had been told to me that that movie was only playing at the Paradise theatre. Duh. Anyways, I was told last night that I should look online to find out about the Constant Gardner. I am soooo glad I didn't. I went in seeing the movie with no expectations and came out with a heart filled with awe, a greater desire and fully entertained in a very creative manner.

I could see this being an Oscar or Cannes Film Winner if not favorite. I had to remind myself that this was a UK film, not an American film using British actors. Excellent movie! I wouldn't mind having a copy of this movie for myself.

It is so strange, I used to think it weird that people would make copies or buy copies of a movie they had just seen. I could not figure why one would want to see a movie AGAIN, much less twenty times or more. But then I guess I've finally gotten on the band wagon and have found myself asking for movies that I have enjoyed immensely. Though I'd say I'm probably more selective than most movie buffs. And I can't even call myself a movie buff. We rarely see movies, but when we do, it seems we see some really great ones. Okay, maybe Elf and Meet the Fockers don't count on the 'really good' scale, but they did have entertainment value for me, at least.

The other movie that I wouldn't mind owning is Motorcycle Diaries. Most movies I enjoy have the element of poignant human experiences.

I know there are thousands of movies out there that I have yet to see and can never remember what they are except when i enter a video store, wishing I could take every single one I find. And then bring them home and have a month-long marathon of movies of others' experiences. But that never seems to work out, and then I feel guilty about wasting time in front of a tv, when there is plenty of other things that need to get done.

That's why I don't watch tv during the day time. It just seems like a waste of time. I think I just need to get over this stupid guilt thing.

After Katrina occurred, I kept wondering why tv and radio were playing up-beat things, and not continuously talking about the victims and the horrific situation our countrymen/women/children found themselves in Katrina's aftermath.

But then I realized we are a country and perhaps a world, where when disaster occurs, there is still 'everyday' life that goes on for those who have not been fully affected by whatever disaster took place. It's as if we need something to distract ourselves of the reality of any given situation.

In one way I am appalled by this behavior, but it's apparently typical. But then again, I can understand perhaps the need for diverting our attention on a comedy, a drama a sports game, a thriller, an action-packed picture so that we still realize we are okay, that life apparently does go on, even in the midst of a horrible disaster.

But when I think worldwide, everyday there is some abominable situation that takes place every minute of every day. Raping, a murder, a bombing, poverty, starvation, a drought, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, raiding of villages, prostitution, slavery, onslaught of some form of terror.

And though the U.S. definitely has its share of murder, homicides, rapes, killings, slavery, prostitution, and poverty, it is still difficult for me to not see the graveness of third world countries who know what struggling truly means. Not that people in America don't, and I don't proceed to negate our grave conditions, BUT the difference is that we are an extremely wealthy, thought stupid country who should be taking better care of our people. But power and money have made us just as corrupt as any third world nation, struggling with similar but even more horrific and catastrophic situations on a daily basis.

So to be sitting in front of a theatre screen or the tube, it's not far away from me the images, of across the world, and even in my own back yard, the struggles of humanity. How very sad it is and I have to work at not letting it get to me. It's difficult though.

So, as I mentioned, I see the need for an entertainment value in our lives so that we can be reminded that we are okay. History shows during wars, during Hiroshima, during the Holocaust, during the San Francisco fires, during the Loma Prieta earthquake, during 9/11, during the Tsunami and more recently during hurricane Katrina, we needed some form of entertainment value to get us through it all. BUT it sucks to know that I am okay, when a child in Sao Paulo, in Vietnam, in India, in Iran, in Africa are just one breath away from their own deaths. But it is the reality of things and I am only one person who is striving to put my passions in to action, by getting involved.

What are you doing to get involved in the fate of our humanity, at home or across the world?

Don't just sit there. Don't be complacent, and don't be socially unaware or without action.

www.one.org
www.data.org
www.amnesty.org
www.care.org
www.un.org
www.who.int/en
www.mercycorps.org
www.oxfam.org
www.savethechildren.org
www.usaid.gov
www.doctorswithoutborders.org
www.idealist.org
www.globalexchange.org
www.heiferinternational.org
www.undp.org
www.nelsonmandela.org
www.46664.tiscali.com
www.globalaidsalliance.org
www.unaids.org
www.worldbank.org/poverty
www.pactworld.org
www.redcross.org
www.salvationarmy.org
www.globalvolunteer.org