In Ghosts of Rwanda and Hotel Rwanda, the story was centered around the Rwandan genocide. The genocide was due to the conflict between the Hutu and Tutsi ethnic groups. The conflict between the two groups started as class warfare. When the Europeans colonized the area they decided that a clear line needed to be drawn between the Hutu and Tutsi. They decided that anyone with ten or more cows was to be considered a Tutsi, as in more wealthy. Then the Europeans began to notice that the Tutsis also had more European characteristics which gained them favor. Even further the Belgians gave each civilian an identification card that determined whether they were Tutsi or Hutu on it. Ongoing struggles continously happened and then finally the genocide when Hutu extremists attempted to exterminate the Tutsis. Over 800,000 people were killed in a matter of months. In Ghosts of Rwanda, the protagonist could be considered to be General Dallaire. Dallaire was the general in charge of UN troops during the genocide. The documentary portrayed him as someone that tried to do as much as they possibly could in order to save as many lives as possible. The documentary presented every person involved in the conflict as someone that tried to do as much as they possibly could to alleviate the conflict. The documentary presented the Hutu extremists and the people who refused to take action as the antagonists in the documentary. The producers point of view was that they either incited the violence or refused to prevent a massacre. The documentary takes the word antagonist at its most basic level. It doesn't really get into the idea of where the conflict started and the history behind it. In fact, we would've never known about prior European involvement in the region had we not watched Hotel Rwanda. The movie, while it's only based on the situation, actually provided some crucial information that the documentary did not, for example the Tutsi-Hutu physical differences as well as the fact that this was not just any massacre of a people. This was a deeply rooted problem for a nation that was inspired by an intense hatred. By no means was the movie completely historically accurate due to the fact that it is a movie and it needed an audience, however, I feel that the documentary did not exactly provide an unbiased presentation of facts either. Most of the people in the documentary were from western countries and provided their reasons for not being able to do all they could for the Rwandan people. The movie presented a viewpoint from a citizen of Rwanda from the beginning of the struggle to their exodus from the country. In the movie the protagonist was Paul, the hotel manager who saved over 1,000 lives by keeping Tusis and liberal Hutus at the hotel. Dallaire was presented in the movie as a person who was incapable of doing anything. He definitely wasn't able to help the situation or provide any help for the hotel. I feel that he came off as somewhat mean in the movie and that it was an inaccurate representation for a person who deeply cared about the conflict, however he didn't actually save the lives of the people at the hotel, Paul did. The antagonist in the movie was the Hutu extremists and the countries that took no action and even assisted in providing the weapons for the extremists, like France.
Unlike both of the movie and the documentary, I feel that the most responsible party in the genocide was the countries that were involved in the colonization of Rwanda. This includes Belgium. Belgium issued the cards that enabled the extremists to identify and slaughter the Tutsis. As well, early colonization created the class warfare and the underlying hatred that exploded when Belgium left the Tutsis in power when they left Rwanda. The Europeans involved in colonization truly believed that they were helping "natives", however in the long run they hurt the countries more than the could've ever helped them. Their colonization and forced beliefs and politics turned citizens of those countries against each other, they have started violence and hatred. While these countries may have had violence and hatred prior to colonization, they were never of the intensity and passion that the Europeans brought with them.
Unlike both of the movie and the documentary, I feel that the most responsible party in the genocide was the countries that were involved in the colonization of Rwanda. This includes Belgium. Belgium issued the cards that enabled the extremists to identify and slaughter the Tutsis. As well, early colonization created the class warfare and the underlying hatred that exploded when Belgium left the Tutsis in power when they left Rwanda. The Europeans involved in colonization truly believed that they were helping "natives", however in the long run they hurt the countries more than the could've ever helped them. Their colonization and forced beliefs and politics turned citizens of those countries against each other, they have started violence and hatred. While these countries may have had violence and hatred prior to colonization, they were never of the intensity and passion that the Europeans brought with them.