Babel - there is no hope in my lifetime
The scene where the Embassy guy was explaining to Brad Pitt through the telephone why the helicopter hasn't reached him was because it was not allowed to use the Moroccan airspace to fly out to Tazarine and bring Cate Blanchett to a hospital. That was the saddest scene for me.
The world changed after September 11 2001. After the two planes had flown into the twin towers it was still about the same. Even after the twin towers collapsed, the world was still pretty much intact.
It was the aftermath that changed the world. They were not acts of terror. To the American administration, they were acts of war ("enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country").
Babel could not have been written if the events after 9-11 did not take place.
But Babel is not about terrorism. It is about perceptions. Perceptions, while they could be wrong and right, can always be clearer with communications. But there are barriers to communication. Culture, language, stereotypes, physical disability, character, fear, media influence, ego, politics, economics, religion... All these were packed in 140 minutes.
And the scene I described above about Brad Pitt and the helicopter was the most poignant because a simple misadventure by a small kid escalated into a worldwide-televised witch hunt for terrorists.
The world changed after September 11 2001. After the two planes had flown into the twin towers it was still about the same. Even after the twin towers collapsed, the world was still pretty much intact.
It was the aftermath that changed the world. They were not acts of terror. To the American administration, they were acts of war ("enemies of freedom committed an act of war against our country").
Babel could not have been written if the events after 9-11 did not take place.
But Babel is not about terrorism. It is about perceptions. Perceptions, while they could be wrong and right, can always be clearer with communications. But there are barriers to communication. Culture, language, stereotypes, physical disability, character, fear, media influence, ego, politics, economics, religion... All these were packed in 140 minutes.
And the scene I described above about Brad Pitt and the helicopter was the most poignant because a simple misadventure by a small kid escalated into a worldwide-televised witch hunt for terrorists.
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2 comments:
I watched the movie tonight...
I found it intensely helpless... there are so many scenes which made me feel so helpless if i were to be in their situation.
the helicopter not being able to do what it's supposed to do; the army of policemen shooting at the family of three; the older son who refused to stop moving and take cover; the younger who decided to shoot back at the police; the nanny who screamed at her nephew to stop the car but to no avail; the first border patrol vehicle who didn't see the nanny in distress; etc...
yeah, but you and I know this happens. especially the bit about airspace management. but so far, in the spirit of ASEAN etc etc, allowances were granted.
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