Movie Day

Today was a day filled with movies for me. First I went to see The Proposal with Ryan Reynolds and Sandra Bullock. I really enjoyed it (she's HOT and he's not bad to look at either, for a guy that is). Then I watched a movie I dvr'd called Death at a Funeral which was a British comedy of sorts. Pretty good, but not great.

And then tonight, to round out the day, I decided to finally watch Schindler's List. I know the movie is like 16 years old. I am a bit out of the loop with some things such as many movies from the 1990's. I was prepared for it as much as one can prepare for such a thing. But I was still reduced to tears at the end. What that one man did to save the lives of so many is just incredible. There really are no words for it.

Now here comes the part where I will sound a little loony to some people, just bear with me please. Everything about the holocaust has an incredible emotional impact on me and nearly always makes me cry. Have you been to the holocaust museum in Washington DC? I fought back tears the entire time I was there. The throat tightening, make it hard to breathe because I'm holding back a full out sob kind of tears, not just the weepy kind of tears. And yes, the atrocity that was the holocaust is incredibly sad. But I did not live through it. And neither did any of my family. So, what is it about this event in history that effects me so?

I believe in past lives, reincarnation if you will. And sometimes, like tonight, I wonder if maybe I was alive during WWII. Or at least part of WWII. As in the part before I was gassed at a concentration camp. Or maybe even the part where I had to do the gassing at a concentration camp. Call me crazy, but Vietnam doesn't have the same effect on me even though my uncle was in it. Neither does just talking about WWII even though my grandfather was in it. Neither does the Korean War or the Civil War or pretty much any other event in history which I was not alive for. Why the holocaust then?

There will never be an answer for that question of course. And that's okay. It's just how I am. I am not obsessed with the subject of the holocaust. I don't search out anything and everything having to do with it. But I do find it interesting on an intellectual level and frankly the way the world seems to be headed it worries me that this sort of thing might happen again. Perhaps this time with people who practice Islam. And that is the wrong direction for the world to be headed. That's regression not progression.

When I was much younger I used to say that until all humans have the skin tone of paper bags there will be no world peace. Meaning until we become one mass of beings indistinguishable from our neighbors there will always be strife. I still believe this to a degree, but I do still hold out hope that we will see world unity/peace in my lifetime (and I plan to live past 100 so we've still got some time to accomplish that, at least 66 years by my count). Until that happens though every one of us needs to promote peace and harmony and inclusion for everyone regardless of their race, religion, sexuality, you name it. We are all human and this planet is the only one we have. Now, that doesn't mean you have to agree or approve of someone else's religion or lifestyle or whatever, but it does mean you need to believe in their freedome to live the way in which it feels right for them to live.

For instance. I am a lesbian. I did not choose this lifestyle, it's part of my genetic makeup (and no, I don't need a good man to change my mind thank you very much). It's simply (a part of) who I am just like my blue eyes and dark brown hair. One of my best friends from high school is a born again Christian. She and I are still friends even though I am very anti-organized religion and am a borderline athiest and she practices hate the sin but love the sinner in regards to my sexuality. I respect her right to believe in her God and she respects my right to love who I love (not that I have anyone to love in that way right now, but that's a topic for a whole different blog post!).

And that my friends is how the world should operate. I am free to be me and you are free to be you and we respect each other. In the words of Rodney King: "People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along? Can we get along? Can we stop making it, making it horrible for the older people and the kids?...It’s just not right. It’s not right. It’s not, it’s not going to change anything. We’ll, we’ll get our justice....Please, we can get along here. We all can get along. I mean, we’re all stuck here for a while. Let’s try to work it out. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to beat it. Let’s try to work it out."

So, how about it? Can we all just get along? As for the lyrics for this post, well, I think they're kind of obvious. I give you by We Are The World by Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie.

There comes a time
When we heed a certain call
When the world must come together as one
There are people dying
And it's time to lend a hand to life
The greatest gift of all
We can't go on pretending day by day
That someone, somewhere will soon make a change
We are all a part of God's great big family
And the truth, you know, love is all we need
We are the world, we are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let's start giving