Syriana
I am surprised that this film won awards, not because it is of low quality, but due to the nature of its themes. The film itself is extremely well done. Syriana covers too many complex themes to cover in a small blog post, perhaps too many for the film itself. It shows an adage that I have always held, that the demons of mythology and fantasy were not from some other world, they were merely human. Evil is not the work of fallen angels or dark divinity, just the nature of men. Some will find this film a revelation of this truth, others, a blasphemy against the American way, while many will simply think of it as a movie, and forget it.
In one sense, that is all it is, a film, with words and images of actions by people. But this is what so many people forget, the power of words, of images, especially when dictating actions. Hitler used films to rally his people to war. America has used them for the same reasons. Some films teach hate, while others expose it. This is no different then books, speeches, songs, commercials, or journalism. This is power. This is rhetoric. To not realize this, to not study this, to not understand this; that is what creates the marionettes of the world, with no idea who controls the strings.
[tags] rhetoric, politics, movie, middle east, evil [/tags]
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