Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Horror ?


In this season of observing “the dark side,” my nephew put out a call for horror movie suggestions. If he were open to my suggestions, here is a small sample (of an endless litany—shortest to longest):
  1. Opium in China ~ http://www.history.com/shows/mankind-the-story-of-all-of-us/videos/opium-in-china (4 min.; see also ftn 1)
  2. Docu. ~ Auschwitz: The Nazi Final Solution ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/auschwitz-nazi-final-solution/ (47 min.)
  3. Docu. ~ Nazi Concentration Camps ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/nazi-concentration-camps/ (58 min.)
  4. Movie:  The Children’s War (2010, documentary abt Uganda child soldiers ~ 64 min.)
  5. Docu. ~ Ghosts of Abu Ghraib ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/ghosts-of-abu-ghraib/ (82 Min.)
  6. Movie:   Dirty Wars (2013: 87 min.)
  7. Docu. ~ Aghet: A Genocide ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/aghet-genocide/ (93 min.)
  8. Docu. ~ The New American Century ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/new-american-century/ (94 min.)
  9. Docu. ~ War By Other Means ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/war-by-other-means/ (1992: 52 min.)
10. Docu. ~ Stealing a Nation ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/stealing-a-nation/ (2004: 56 min.)
11. Docu. ~ Making a Killing: The Untold Story of Psychotropic Drugging ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/making-a-killing-the-untold-story-of-psychotropic-drugging/ (95 min.)
12. Movie:   Taxi to the Dark Side (2007: 106 min.)
13. Movie:   Bloody Sunday (2002: 107 min.)
14. Docu. ~ Congo: White King, Red Rubber, Black Death ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/congo-white-king-red-rubber-black-death/ (110 min.)
15. Docu. ~ Blood and Oil ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/blood-oil/ (2010: 112 min.)
16. Movie:  The Killing Fields (1984: 141 min.)
17. Docu. ~ Racism: A History ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/racism-history/ (2007: 176 min.)
18. Docu. ~ The Most Evil Men in History ~ http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/most-evil-men-in-history/ (300 min.)
This is just a small, diverse sampling of what the pursuit of power and profit has wrought in past and present. Why then, do we, so often, stop our ears and shut our eyes to the horrors in the real world while taking pleasure in scaring ourselves with fiction?

What is the weapon of our mass distraction (WMD2) for this October week? Fictional horror movies? What will it be next week? and every week thereafter till we wake up to realize:
Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law. (Old Testament | Psalms 119:53)?
What are we doing?—for Heaven's sake!

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1.  Other textual supporting sources:
▪ Opium: The Downfall of Imperial China http://www.historywiz.com/downfall.htm
▪ The Opening to China Part I: the First Opium War, the United States, and the Treaty of Wangxia, 1839–1844 ~ https://history.state.gov/milestones/1830-1860/china-1
2. WMD ~ first heard it used this way by others. Also could be termed Weapons of Media Distraction; Weapons of Mass Deception, etc.