A movie all America should watch

Nestled in my mailbox, amidst the trash mail and grocery circulars, I found a strange treasure today. It was one of my latest Netflix offerings. I am of course a Netflix junkie, unabashedly so, and am so because I can see all of the strange, often horrible, diversity of films and points of view that are offered to the world. And tonite I am watching a documentary entitled "God Grew Tired of Us" dealing mainly with the stories of four young men, Sudanese refugees living in Kenya, who are given the opportunity to come to the States and make a go at life. I found myself saying to an interviewer last week that, given the chance to trade places for a day with anyone living or dead, I would like to spend a day in the shoes of someone living in Darfur, Sudan. The reasoning is, one can become so despondent about life and the grind of the modern world, that one forgets what real struggle and hardship is. I think that every single person living in this country should have the opportunity to watch this strange multicultural documentary which starts with people who at the outset have no concept of electricity (Yet are not uneducated. They are quite fluent in English and speak casually about philosophy and physics,) who have to be taught by a very understanding man how to use a lamp, a trash can, a toilet, and yet work three jobs to try to help out all of those who were not lucky enough to come to our country, and who write letters of the decimation of their relatives to various African conflicts. Yeah, I'm rambling, I admit. It might have something to do with the impressive story of the Kenyan scion taking office shortly as the most powerful man in the world. It may have to do with a feeling of... shame... that young men with the best intentions in the world, coming to our country, slowly evolve into just another American, fighting with how to survive in a world of the individual against the system, fighting to pat bills. This is the story of every immigrant, every American... it is a documentary about the dream of the shining democracy that we all want this country to be. The ambiguity of the movie, letting the story evolve without undue influence, letting the events and personas speak for themselves, is masterful. Out for now, but as an American, believing in our country and our system and the dream that is America, WATCH THIS FILM.

P.S. The brain is no longer dormant. Watch this space.

tags: of  immigrant  movie  documentary  us  grew  usa  tired  god  

links: digg this    del.icio.us    technorati    reddit