Lunch yesterday was a pleasent enough affair. Their Imperial Majesties were visiting their youngest son which made the meal more relaxed. It was full house and the liquor was plentiful. Afterward, I went home and spent the rest of the day reading. Heaven. Right now I'm watching The Long Walk To Freedom. The music already got to me. The music supervisor was keen to use a good mix of popular South African music and original music by the Irish band U2, one of my favorites. It's starting to remind me of the movie Ghandi. I think what pulls me to this film is it's part of my contemporary history. I know who Nelson Mandela was and what he did. What make it even more relevant for me is the anti-apartheid movement had such global cultural traction that it was impossible not to know about it or have an opinion. This all happened while I was growing and maturing (still am). It feels less distant than Ghandi. Indian independence was more a part of my parent's generation while the anti-apartheid movement is more a part of mine. Nelson Mandela had such a human quality to him that made him less lime a deity and more relatable. It's easy to imagine Nelson Mandela as your favorite uncle or a beloved grandfather. I suppose that's what made him so great. Like any person, he had his faults. Even the great are not perfect. He knew this. He was humble. Another thing, is how much the anti-apartheid movement paralleled the American Civil Rights Movement. Like, the Civil Rights Movement, much was accomplished, yet much still has to be done. I think it's only fitting that I've seen both 12 Years A Slave and The Long Walk To Freedom in the same month because they're both true stories of slavery, freedom, and redemption. This to me reasonates more than the story of Passover.
No comments:
Post a Comment