Two movies that fail not to upset me!

Our movie night last night went so emotional. We were watching 2 movies that you might or might not heard of. One is based on true story: Stanford Prison Experiment, another is a portrayal of what’s going on in some parts of the once-known dark continent, Africa, titled: Beasts of No Nation.

Stanford Prison Experiment

 

You can read more about this experiment here

I was getting really upset after the movie was playing about an hour, half way through. Gosh… There are so many unethical actions that happened in it. I was surprised to see how 'cooperative' some of the “prisoners” were.

I was extremely mad towards the superintendent, Prof. Zimbardo who led the team in that experiment. He himself was too absorbed in his role, consumed by the authority he held, and too ambitious about the possible result that he wanted to see that he forgot he was being immoral and inhumane. It was madness because I actually wished him ill throughout the whole movie because he was just so callous at the time.

It is stated the people who were involved in the experiment were adapting to the roles they played. I won’t say it is adapting, they were losing themselves, consumed by power and fear. Again, I hated that the person who could actually stopped all the things that should not happen, didn’t do anything. It is sickening. Good people turn bad during that experiment just because authority weren’t well exercised. The only thing that made me glad was 416 rebels in the way that he could! That’s the spirit.  

Moral of the story: Power blinds people and I am surprised on how cruel we can be when given the power. Ahhh.. I believe human being can do much better than that.

 

Beasts of No Nation

 

You can read more about the plot here

This is another movie that shattered my heart. I always like to read and watch books and movies that describe the life of ordinary people in territories which are in conflict. From that I can see the beauty in human being; even in that chaotic places, some people just want something so ordinary like peace, proper education and sometimes basic meals, nothing luxury.

In this movie, although the country is not named, but maybe parts of the story are just an exact portrayal of what the life have been for people in the war zone.

I am heartbroken to see how the life of a smart, creative, cheerful kid is ruined overnight just because of the interest of people up there. Again, it is the thirst for power that ruins the life of many. I detest that! I am against doctrine all the way. With the right mind which we fortunate enough to have right now, you can see how sickening the so-called-commandant in the movie brainwashed the ‘soldiers’, how irrational some of the doctrine can be, and you will think how absurd that people just follow.

Moral of the story: Be grateful of the life we have now. We might not have everything we want, but we have a life, a pretty fair one! We might not have the best government, but as of now, we should be thankful we live in peace. And… no matter who tells you what, I believe it is important to seek for the truth ourselves. As cliché as it can be, see it for yourself before you decide to believe in things, all things! Don’t let learnt knowledge gets in between the truth.

I am upset,  I am angry and I recommend the two movies above.