Author: Jonathan B. Smith
March 14, 2005

Michigan State University 's School of Criminal Justice
Issues in Terrorism
Professor Robyn R. Mace, Ph.D.
Movie Review

SECTION 1: SUMMARY OF THE SCRIPT (Movie Trailer)

Write a brief summary of the storyline events of the video in sufficient detail to inform someone who has not seen the video.

I went to this movie with the intention of educating myself about the genocide that occurred in Rwanda in 1994, never considering its applicability to this assignment. Prior to seeing the movie, I like most Westerners knew very little about the atrocities that took place in Rwanda in 1994. I am ashamed to say that I never knew that over one million people were slaughtered in the span of 100 days and the Western powers did virtually nothing to stop it.

Hotel Rwanda is not a documentary about the atrocities (PBS Frontline produced two marvelous documentaries: Ghosts of Rwanda & The Triumph of Evil), but rather a story about the courage of one man, Paul Rusesabagina, who almost single handedly saved the lives of 1,268 people.

The distinction between those who slaughtered and those who got slaughtered was an artificial division among the indigenous people "created" during the colonial reign of the Belgians. The Belgians segregated the Rwandans into two categories: Hutu and Tutsis. The distinguishing features between the two groups were the shades of color of their skin and the size and width of their noses. To an outsider Hutus and Tutsis look almost identical, but to the Hutu Militia, Tutsis were "cockroaches" (Movie Clip "Hutu or Tutsi").

SECTION 2. ELEMENTS OF TERROR AND TERRORIST ACTS

Write a detailed discussion of the elements of the terror as you have come to understand them in terms of the film you viewed.

This movie was more about ethnic unrest and the related civil war than any conventional definition of acts of terrorism. The crimes against humanity that were committed in Rwanda by the Hutu Militia created wide spread fear and shock Rwandans' sense of confidence and security to their core. This goes back to Module 1 where White notes that the indirect psychological impacts of terrorism are often far more damaging than the physical damage inflicted. Terrorism shakes its indirect victims to their core; it offers a real threat to their sense of security and overall confidence traditionally offered in a peace time civilized society.

What were the crucial issues in terms of the contextual, individual, group and structural issues involved in terrorism?

The movie provides very little background about the history or the catalyst for the civil war. The overriding issue is the villainization of the Tutsis by the Hutus. During Module 3 on religious terrorism, White's noted: "In Religious (Ethnic) wars, enemies do not simply represent people with opposing views. They represent the spawn of the devil . . . . It is difficult to kill other human beings regardless of cause, but in a religious (ethnic) war, one does not destroy human beings. One destroys evil (Cockroaches)."

How were force multipliers treated?

The movie provided a very graphic portrayal of the key force multipliers in the war.

• Media was used extensively by the rebel forces to "spread the word." However, the primary media outlet they used was not television or the Internet, but radio. It was amazing how powerful and ominous the radio can be when it is your only means of gathering news.
• Critical Infrastructure Command and Control was another key force multiplier that the Hutu Rebels used to their advantage. They turned off the water supply, electricity and controlled key supply lines in and out of Paul Rusesabagina's hotel.
• Ethnic Fanaticism was a third key force multiplier that allowed the Hutus to kill over 1 million people at the hands of individual men with machetes vs. modern weapons of mass destruction. The machete is not listed in the DHS' list of WMD's, which included Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive Weapons (CBRNE), but it proved to be equally lethal.

Which parts were realistically (or not, in your opinion) represented?

This movie was extremely realistic. The only part that was incredulous was the Western nations' failure to intervene to stop the atrocities and their complete disregard for the lives of the Rwandan Tutsis. Unfortunately, this part of the movie was true.

How were these concepts presented and treated in the film?

The cowardice of the Western powers was brilliantly portrayed by Nick Nolte and his crew of UN Peacekeepers. The shear frustration, shame and despair of the UN Peacekeepers was a recurrent theme throughout the movie.

How did they compare with your reading material?

The reading material provided a solid foundation for analyzing the terrorist aspects of the movie. Needless to say, "a picture speaks a thousand words."

SECTION 3. CONCLUSIONS AND OPINIONS

How did the movie portray the complexities involved in terrorism, ideology, and identity?

As noted earlier, this movie was more about civil war and ethnic conflict than terrorism, per se. The movie focused more on the complexities and absurdities of colonial imposed ethnic segregation. On this topic, the movie provided a graphic portrayal of the absolute insanity of genocide.

What insight did you gain as a result of this assignment?

This assignment brought me to consider how much I have learned about terrorism during the first half of the semester. It also made me realize that I will never view a movie about ethnic, religious, or violent economic conflict in quite the same way again.

How does your perception and understanding of terrorism conflict with that shown in the film?

I tend to be a realist and believe that this movie provided an incredibly graphic and accurate depiction of the realities in Rwanda in 1994. I do not find my perceptions and understandings of terrorism to be in conflict with those depicted in the movie. What I do find conflicting is my minds inability to reconcile a human being's ability to perpetrate such terrible cruelty and atrocities against fellow members of the human race.

Works Cited

White, J.R. (2002). Terrorism: An Introduction. Wadsworth Publishing, Belmont, CA.

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