City of God

As I have just mentioned before (although it will appear in the next article down!!) JT and I watched "City of God" last night. I don't usually like violent films much - I usually have to hide in JT's lap in the scary bits, but this film made quite an impression. Maybe this is because I have been to Brazil, or maybe it was because it was in Portuguese with subtitles. There is soemthing about having to read along to a film that keeps you engaged and makes it pretty powerful.

This film iss set in Rio De Janeiro and tells of gang wars and slum life. The slums ('favelas') were actually quite posh in the film, but I attach a photo of a favela on the outskirts of Sao Paulo that we visited on our mission trip in 2004. This is actually someone's house, literally constructed from rubbish. It has no roof, no rooms, no contents - just walls...Of sorts...

When we visited, the police told us that we could not go in as there was gun fighting occurring. We had to stand on nearby railway bridge and photograph it with a good zoom on the camera. Children ran around in nappies or naked, playing football with rubbish. This was the only sign of human life that we saw. I will also attach a view of the entire favela which sat by a railway line.

Seeing films like 'City of God'and visiting a region like that makes you do a lot of thinking. The film was strange, people would pray one minute and kill people the next. I didn't really understand this, except that when you remove all the stuff and empty pretensions that exist in Western life, you are left with yourself, God and an almighty battle (spiritually). It was like watching a physical representation of this (except that obviously it was twisted with the good guys being killed!!) People are damaging. More and more words that I hear are empty and yet heavily laden. Like the person who talks to me online sometimes, belittling everything that I say. To look at it objectively, you see hollow words, but you know the sentiment behind them, and it is like water behind a dam.

The thing about water behind a dam is that you don't really realise the pressure that it is harbouring underneath until it blows and torrents of water drown all that is in its wake. All that you have seen until now is a load of still water behind a wall, becoming a little stagnant and despondent perhaps. I talk about what is happening using the example of one human being, but isn't it a picture of the modern day world? We are pussy footing around trying not to offend anyone, avoiding conflict at all costs but causing all kinds of problems because people are afraid to be honest. I worry that we are building a dam.

I guess this is why I was so shocked to see a film where people took away all of that and just killed, it was horrible. I am not suggesting for one minute that we do the same, never ever ever!! But doesn't it make you a little concerned about what might happen if we don't stand up for truth and justice in our nation? I'm no political activist, but I do believe in lovingly speaking the truth. This is a work in progress, thinking out loud as usual... I have no conclusion.