Military Governments and Human Rights in the 20th Century Latin America - Essay Example

War, Films and Families Throughout the world’s history, wars have marred the legacy and the beauty of the face of planet Earth. There are wars that went on for centuries and these wars torn not just lands but also families apart. Masterpieces and works of arts gain inspiration from these wars not just a remembrance of the events but to let other people know what actually occurred during these wars. These works and literary pieces have been the storyteller of not just the violence but also of the drama that has been brought by wars throughout history. There are always two sides in a story however though the lighter part of it have always been over-shadowed by the number of deaths and traumatic experiences these struggle for power and supremacy have brought at all corners of the world people are living in. It is painful enough to know that there are innocent people being killed however it is more painful to know that there are families being torn apart and family members killing each other in the process. In Paul Dix and Pamela Fitzpatrick’s book, the characters were real people. They were real victims this is unlike other literary pieces where the characters are just based on what happened to real people. Here, one can actually feel the pain and anguish the victims and their families felt during the war in Nicaragua. Families lost a member or two while other victims lost their limbs. Though the pictures were in black and white, the message they conveyed were in high definition and in full color. This is the difference of this book compared to other war inspired books. No words were needed to express the pain and suffering of those people who got caught in the middle of conflicting parties. Children should have been playing with toys, having fun laughing and smiling unlike those in the pictures where they are crying and running away for safety (NicaraguaPhotoTestimony.Org). During the year 1985, an Argentine film was produced to mirror how the war is breaking up friendships and families. There can also be a hint of losing one’s self-identity during the process. This film was Luis Puenzo’s The Official Story. This was the story about families, families torn apart by the war and a family that became complete because of the loss of others. The main female protagonist in this film was Alicia, who did not have a biological child with her husband Roberto and eventually adopted Gaby. It was Alicia’s curiosity that brought up the issue of Gaby’s biological parents. For someone who took care of a child and gave her a name and a home, it would be just natural to be intrigued and even worried if one day someone will come knocking on your door saying that they are the biological parents of the child you have cared for. This fear could have been Alicia’s main reason as to why she wanted to know who Gaby’s biological parents were. There was an issue which came up upon the entry of Alicia and Roberto’s friend, Ana. She was the key on where and how Alicia could get to know about the biological roots of Gaby. The setting of the story was during the war in Argentina where people go missing, innocent or guilty, leaving children and other family member behind without any warning. Children are the number 1 victim during wars, directly but most of the time indirectly. It was lucky for Gaby to have foster parents who took her under their care and eventually knew someone from her biological family. In real life, only a chosen few are as lucky as her as some never got to know their biological families. In 1997, another war inspired film was produced and released. American drama film Men with Guns by John Sayles was an eye-opener to those who knew that there was a war going on but does not really know the whole story behind those fighting and caught in the middle of the war. The lead protagonist in the story is the widower Dr. Humberto Fuentes. There are instances when war victims are not victimized by revolutionaries but by military men themselves. As a result, some would join the revolutionaries and others would become more violent against both the freedom fighters and the militaries. There would be people who would think that those two groups are one and the same and only thinks of themselves and not the population as a whole, an eye-opener to those who are thinking the same way towards these groups. It is the civilians who are the real victims, this is what the film by Sayles would want to convey. With the disappearances of people, some would think that they have been killed while others would know that they have either joined the revolutionaries or those civilians who would want “true” freedom. There are war victims who would just stay in the shadow and live with their fear while some would fight their fear and fight their nemesis, and become the third party in the war. There would be a number of civilians who would also prefer to run away from the war as far away as possible, even if this means that they might end up somewhere up in the mountains though the safety of travelling to that place is uncertain. The journey of Dr. Fuentes in finding his students could also be associated to a person looking for the true meaning in his life battling his own personal war. In 2008, Elizabeth Farnsworth and Patricio Lanfranco’s documentary The Judge and the General was released for the viewing public. The metaphor of war with personal transformation can also be mirrored in this film. In Sayles’ film, the personal transformation was made fictional unlike what Farnsworth and Lanfranco presented. A viewer would think that the documentary voiced out the “what if” thoughts of Appeals Court Judge Juan Guzmán, a reflection of the wrong he had done that resulted into the killings of hundreds of people. What if Guzmán supported Allende instead of Pinochet, would history be better? Would the lives of people and the country itself reflect more hope if things have done otherwise? As it has been stated above, the real victims of the war are the children whether directly or indirectly. Though initially it is the civilians who would be perceived as the victims, in the long run it is the orphans of those who have fought for both sides that would carry the hardships and the emotions political conflicts have brought. This was shown in the film by Puenzo. When a child sees violence, they have the tendency to copy these actions and exert it to other people not knowing if its effect. Others would take this experience into adulthood and either transform it a positive action or continue making the violent acts. If the adults of the present generation are violent it would be most probably that they were brought up in a violent environment when they were younger (Carpenter, 119-21). The cycle would continue as they would be the ones who would bring violence to the lives of the children who would eventually be the leaders of next generation. What kind of leaders would they be? In this aspect one can reflect via the documentary of Farnsworth and Lanfranco or the film of Sayles. For the film The Official Story, not much violent can be felt rather it was the emotion that was caused by the violent acts that brought about the story. It is not much of the story that was violent. This film showed the consequences of the war that went on for years. Emotions built up the storylines for this particular film which is contrary to the film by Sayles, Men with Guns. There are more action sequences in this film showing what can happen in a battle zone or even in a small village which are being fought by different parties for territory and be made as a base. This film also showed how men would use guns against civilians who are practicing or displaying different opinions and values compared to their thoughts. The emotion that a person would feel upon watching the film is fear for their lives which may be taken away with just a single squeeze on the trigger. It also showed that regardless of age, when needed to fight, one would be forced to grab a gun and protect themselves and their families. As far as the context goes, there are loopholes in the films as to what have transpired with some of the characters. One example would be the character of Gaby in the film by Puenzo. Did she violently react to fact that her biological parents might have been killed in the war though innocent? What happened to the so-called biological grandmother of Gaby? The story ended showing Gaby as an adult in the house of her foster grandparents but what happened to the lady who might be her biological grandmother? A few questions here and there would make the story vague but with the emotion that was shown initially by the film’s storyline, such loopholes have been disregarded. Same goes with the film Men with Guns. There are still questions that would pop into one’s head after watching the film as there would be details which have been portrayed as vague. One message that the film would want to convey is that violence does not cultivate peace. It is like accidentally throwing a partially extinguished cigarette to a container filled with gasoline. It would only take some time before the gasoline would catch the fire and eventually be the cause of a disastrous event. If a party would want peace within their lands, one should negotiate with the parties as to how they can make amends and start co-existing with each other. This would take a while and an enormous amount of patience but at least no innocent lives would be spared, no families would be torn apart by violent take overs and no regrets would be made by those people who could have totally changed the course of history. For the film by Sayles, it showed how previously innocent people would reciprocate the violence that was thrown onto them whether it is from the revolutionaries or the military. The documentary about Guzmán showed regret of a decision made previously. Hundreds of lives must have been spared if he did not support Pinochet. There could have been a good leader in one of those victims that could have improved the quality of living in their country. However, there is no more turning back. The decision was made, lives have been sacrificed and innocent people have lost a loved one or two. One should not dwell in the past instead they should learn from it. There might have been influences that could change a person’s outlook towards a person or a decision. No matter what the consequences may be, one thing should be made certain and that innocent lives should be spared from violence and conflicts. As for symbolism, the film that showed a number would be Men with Guns. Dr. Fuentes could be anyone who is battling themselves towards a decision or an unlikely event that happened in his life. This is shown when he started looking for his students not knowing what is in store for him when he starts making his journey into lands/villages that may already be infiltrated by those people who are raging terror to gain wealth and power. The war is the current state the person’s heart and mind is in. When Dr. Fuentes is looking for his student, the student here is the metaphor for peace within the society and especially within the self. The journey that he went through looking for his student can be related to a person’s daily life. Nobody is certain to what will happen until it actually happen. Even if things are already planned, something might occur prior to the plan that can alter the whole event. Amongst the book and the 3 films, it is the book that could be said to could have made the most impact. The word “could” is the operative word. Not everyone would open a book even to look at pictures. Some would just even want a summary to be told to them and would not dare open the book. This is a sad reality as in this case it is the book that would give the clearest picture of what is happening in a war stricken area and what would happen to those families who would lose a member whether innocent or guilty. Maybe a step to get people more aware of the book is when the contents of the book were put into a website. Currently, the worldwide web would be the best medium to get the message across. The war-inspired films would only mirror what may be happening and how the war could end up. Even the documentary would be tainted by a little fictional events or thoughts. Unlike the book, which was filled by events frozen in time, it is as if waiting for something before coming to life. Words are not enough to let the majority of the population know what can transpire during wars and conflicts. Military men could be the protagonist or the antagonist in the story. There would always be those characters in real life which people would either love or hate. One cannot say that the events in the pictures are scripted just like the movies yet it conveys more than a handful of films can. Every person should be an observant of history. There are so many events that have happened in the past which created the world the present generation is currently living in. Not everyone is capable of standing up and fighting for their rights and advocacies. However, everyone can learn from the mistakes that happened in the past to make a better place/country for the future generations to live in. There would be some who would say that the past has a tendency to repeat itself, a reason might be is that men have not yet learned their lessons and just repeats the mistake over and over again. This should not be the case and therefore scholars should be more curious into delving in to the past to avoid a drastic event to happen again whether at present or at some point in the future. The exercise that was given gave the participants better grasps of what is happening beyond the bullets and tanks, beyond the conflicts and violence. One should always be aware that a person’s action or decision will not just affect that person but might be the reason for a major struggle between political groups or major organizations whether at present or in the near future. Being aware of what happened in the past makes a person more interested in his future to avoid the events that happened in the past. One book, two films and one documentary all sums up into one message and that is to end violent wars that are occurring around the globe. A person should take care of another and not kill each other. There would always be conflict and misunderstandings among groups and political parties but none should end up in violent wars. It would be nice to know that one can have a peaceful sleep at night knowing that nobody would lose a family member due to violence somewhere in the world. Works Cited Carpenter, R. Charli. Innocent Women and Children: Gender, Norms and the Protection of Civilians. Hampshire, England: Ashgate Publishing Limited. 2006. Dix, Paul and Fitzpatrick, Pamela. Nicaragua: Surviving the Legacy of U.S Policy. 2011. Web. 01 April 2014. http://nicaraguaphototestimony.org/. Men with Guns. Dir. John Sayles. Perf. Federico Luppi, Damián Delgado, and Dan Rivera González. Anarchists Convention Films, 1997. The Judge and the General. Dir. Elizabeth Farnsworth and Patricio Lanfranco Leverton. West Wind Productions. 2008. DVD. The Official Story. Dir. Luis Puenzo. Perf. Norma Aleandro, Héctor Alterio, and Chunchuna Villafañe. Historias Cinematograficas Cinemania, 1985. Read More