Movies

Watched both Malcom X and Amistad over the past couple of days. Both movies that I have never seen before. I had heard of Malcom X and knew that there was a movie about him. I knew that he was an activist in the sixties and that he was thought to promote violence and black supremacy but not really much more than that. It was interesting to watch the movie and learn about his background and his life. He had courage to stand up for what he believed. I thought it was interesting that they made him out to be almost nieve and gullable, he was told by the guy in prison that he shouldn't just believe what he is told but to look for the truth then he took every thing they told him at face value and again just believed what he was told and didn't see the truth until it was too late. Then his fight became not only with white oppression but with the very people that saved him. I know he was thought of as promoting violence but his words were more asking for the violence to stop against his people and when it does he will tell them to quit fighting to protect themselves and their freedoms.
Amistad was a good movie as well, not one I would have chosen to watch on my own but I am glad that I now have. It was very hard to watch how these people were treated, especially when he was telling the story of the voyage to Cuba. The horrendous disregaurd for human life was very disturbing. The contrasts in the movie were very well shown with out being extremely in your face. The darkness of the cells and the ship and the lighness of the capitol scenes and John Adams home. This was an intense movie, it kept you waiting to see what was going to happen next. I was surprised that they won in the end, I really didn't expect them to. I thought for sure that evil would win because of the time period that the movie was set. In hindsite the movie was a little predicable, the down trodden average man who under extreme circumstances does great things and becomes a hero. But all that aside it was a good story and very thought provoking.