General Chat

Following some rather dubious threads on the boards last night, a number of films sprang to mind - and by extension some rather disturbing moment within those films.

This, for me, is probably one of the most sinister and disturbing scenes from any film I have seen - the 'Tomorrow Belongs to Me' scene from cabaret.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdM8PDu6VMg&feature=related

morning Eldrick....did that thread disappear last night ? I added after you ...so realise the ref to Cabaret...and agree entirely , it is a disturbing scene (have seen it many times) ...

I have always had an interest in WW1 /WW2 and the events linking the two, and your reply re the comment on Poland last night was spot on.

Rose x

PS have you watched 'The Pianist'?

Polanski's film about Władysław Szpilman WW2 ...the scene where the family cut up one sweet to share a 'last meal' whilst waiting to be transported to Auschwitz...reason enough to weep , reason enough to fight.(in my opinion).

to add your quote from last night, which is one I have often used myself

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing." Edmund Burke

Seems it disappeared this morning, just as I was sending my response....

The bit in Last King Of Scotland, where Amin's wife is laid out on the morgue table is pretty disturbing.

H

Hi Rose

Yes, I saw that film and that was a powerful scene as well.

Heidi, I remember that bit - very graphic. Some similar powerful scenes in Blood Diamonds as well - another good film.

For me, the Cabaret clip graphically symbolises the rollercoaster that gathers speed when people unite under a false banner - white supremacy - and the war mongering and racist posts last night were equally distubing - to me, anyway.

Claddagh -- I was touting Oh What A Lovely War on the favourite brit flicks just this week.


Tomorrow belongs to me ... makes me want to stand up and sing. All that fresh air and sunshine, all that blonde hair, all that, er, youthful purity. Who wants to be the miserable old git sitting in the back refusing to *not look* at the cruelty and evil lurking behind those clear blue eyes?

Party pooper. Just like you, Eldrick.

Yep, I've seen Blood Diamond and The Pianist too, very thought provoking.

I'm sure that my 88 year old grandad, who fought in WW2, would NOT appreciate being defined as a "war-monger" anymore than I do.

I'm deeply proud and grateful for his and every other man/womans input, that has allowed me the freedom of speech and movement that I am blessed with every day.

H

hello Eldrick, I think what brought it home to me really re the insidious nature of rascism ( the nature of the beast) was seeing the 'tiny steps' that were taken in Germany during 30s against the Jewish population, the small ways of isolating people from the society in which they live...first a 'seperation' then 'annihilation'..based on nothing more than being 'different to us'.

I see it even here in this small village...two families of 'other race' have moved in to this little white enclave....and so the comments start (which are too offensive to add here) , without people even having spoken to the newcomers or knowing anything about them ,except that they are 'different to us'...

Rose x

Morning Kathryn~~ Yes you are right , that scene does make you want to stand up and sing...and 'belong'!

My mother came on holiday to this part of Wales in the 30s and told me of the group of young boys, Hitler youth , that were here on holiday...so clean, so blond and so 'disciplined' , just like the young man who sang 'Tomorrow belongs...'

also of the young men she knew, in 1939 and on, who never came home...

Rose x

Hi,

I agree Eldrick saw blood diamonds, another brutal movie is Saving Private Ryan ........
Unfortunately Rose this will occur in every race creed and colour, there is good and bad in every place :O(

I find "Triumph of the Will" particularly disturbing because I can see just how that would have influenced those who were really not particularly interested in anything outside their own little world to go along with Hitler.those people who would not bother to vote in an election but would make a priority of voting for Big Brother.It is real "bread and circuses" stuff.(Sorry,I just can't remember who I am quoting there.)

Hello Sheila, too true sadly...can't change the world so can only start with ones self.

Sorry Eldrick didn't mean to go off topic re films

Rose xx

Ps Sharron ..."Bread and circuses" (panem et circenses) is an ancient Roman metaphor for people choosing food and fun over freedom....(Napoleon used it too)

Rose, if only people knew what they are denying them*selves* by behaving like that.

I'm surrounded by Chinese-Canadian families. Two in particular, right next door and across the street, I became good friends with through their daughters. The kids needed some contact with the broader culture outside school -- their parents spoke little English and worked every hour they got. The girls and I became fast friends -- we cooked, I taught them to knit and play piano, they learned about cats, they got help with their homework. I got Chinese delicacies from their mums. And when they got overbilled on their heating oil, or the pipes burst in the basement, I made the calls for them.

I took the two little girls to the big Christmas craft fair one year, and said they could pick out something for themselves for $10. They liked the Chinese carved stone sealing-wax seals, but they didn't want their Chinese names on them; they liked being Lisa and Julie, and they hated Saturday morning Chinese school. We bickered and I pressured them to get their proper Chinese names. The older Chinese man running the booth was amused, and asked whether they were my daughters. I'm as white as they come -- and the two girls were as different as two Chinese girls could possibly be. We all had a good laugh.

Why anyone would want to deny themselves the opportunity to just enjoy the company of anybody else in the world, is just beyond me.

hi Kathryn, well as mum to a 12 year old...I want him to realise that everywhere he goes there will be 'good' people and 'bad' people ,but that this does not depend on race, creed or colour. I was brought up to 'take people as I found them'...to see the person not the race/ colour etc and form my own opinions not blindly accept someone elses ....I hope my son will be the same! Keep an ' open mind and an open heart' in fact.

Rose xx

Yes, I know just what you mean, Kathryn.

I have met so many people here in the UK who have said they dont know how I can spend so much time in Africa because of all the blacks there. And they insist they couldn't go themselves for the same reason.

They get mentally ticked off on the list of people I wish to associate with. That degree of ignorance and bigotry cannot stay within the limits of blacks v whites. It must manifest in other ways and I prefer just to stay clear.

a bit like not going to China because of all the Chinese isn't it!!!!

Most disturbing moment for me was when ambi's mother died and in Dumbo when his Mum was in a cage and their trunks were intertwined!! sobbing uncontrollably now------------------------------

Awwww Ann..................Baby mine, don't you cry:)))))

Hi Kathyrn

I do not know maybe ignorance, maybe be fear of what they do not know or understand.
People are people what ever their colour, treat others as you would hope to be treated yourself. :O)
By the way Rose, when I mentioned race creed and colour before I meant that prejudice exists everywhere, whether it is the colour of someone skin or religion, unfortunately to some people who do not understand it, strange to believe in this day and age isn't it

Ann, Kitty ~~~~...I can't watch Dumbo! Bambi (sorry Eldrick lol!!) or any Lassie films.....which all goes to show something doesn''t it?...hmmm creeps away to have a think about that one!

Rose xx

It does Sheila..and also extends beyond race/ religion to those with a 'disability' of course....many see the disease or disability and not the person .

Rose xx