Preview

Hotel Rwanda vs. Erin Brockovich

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1649 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Hotel Rwanda vs. Erin Brockovich
Two Different Ways to Murder Thousands of People
Hotel Rwanda and Erin Brockovich are two provocative films that take a look at separate deviant acts but still present similar dangerous social problems. The conflicts that are portrayed are different in the means of operation but both share a similar end with the endangerment of thousands of people. We will examine how these deviant decisions affect both their societies and the reasons behind these atrocious acts.
Hotel Rwanda is a very graphic film filled with a tremendous amount of deviance and social problems. The Hutu tribe feels that the Tutsi should not be in power and the Hutu extremists try to overtake their position. The social problem is they want control over their part of Africa but do not have the proper means to go about it in a civilized manner. Without a proper education, a legitimate democracy, adequate money for food, water and shelter, the Hutu feel that they must gain power in order to better their lives. The only way they can do this is to commit a mass genocide against the Tutsi tribes. This event can be seen as a result of Robert Merton’s Anomie theory, or sometimes called strain theory. Merton’s theory “holds that crime increases – as do other forms of deviance – when the social structure prevents people from achieving culturally defined goals (e.g. Hutu bettering their lives) through legitimate means (e.g. an election). This gap between goals and means is called structural inequality or anomie”. (Tepperman 2010) The persisting structural gap that the Hutu were experiencing was stopping them from rising to prominent political positions within Africa and left their people feeling angry, worthless and forgotten about. Unfortunately, they turned to the ultimate form of deviance and began heartlessly murdering all the Tutsi people they came across. Quickly developing a mob mentality increasingly becoming more and more violent in large groups.
The Hutu began to show displeasure



Cited: Tepperman, Lorne. Deviance, Crime, and Control: Beyond the Straight and Narrow. 2nd ed. Don Mills, Ont.: Oxford UP, 2006. Print.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Hotel Rwanda Analysis

    • 2525 Words
    • 11 Pages

    The major motives behind any genocide are – Power, Psychological resentment, Purification and Pecuniary gain. Rwandan Genocide of 1994 was backed by all of these motives. The carnage had its origin for power and wealth, which once was in the hands of the Tutsis, later on seized by the Hutus after independence of Rwanda from Belgium. To retain this power, the Hutus elites planned this genocide and exercised their ‘Hutu Power’ over the Tutsis on a macro level. The director wisely linked the all main scenes of the movie in a chronological order to shows the clear picture of genocide. For instance, in one scene of the movie when the local militia leader George asked Paul to join the Hutu politics, but the Paul denied; George argues, “Politics is power and money” (Hotel Rwanda). Purification or ethnic cleansing is another major motive behind any massacre. Armenian genocide and the holocaust are the classic examples of the genocides purely effected by this motive. This ethnic and cultural prejudice often results in the creation of 'in-group' and 'out-group' thinking, where members of a group having same race, ideology or identity treats the member of other groups as their enemies or aliens. The belief behind this is that the ‘out groups’ are pollutants and need to be cleansed for the goodness of the society. Unlike the earlier genocides held in years 1959, 1964 and 1973, in which women and children were not killed,…

    • 2525 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    During the Rwandan genocide the will to survive of the Tutsis causes them to survive against the insurgent majority Hutu’s. After many deaths and endless torture the Tutsis, an African ethnicity in Rwanda, are seeking a safe haven in this time of genocide and will go to anyone for help just so they can survive. One person in particular Rusesabagina, a Hutu hotel manager married to a Tutsis, risks everything to help others. Lovegren, the author of this article, reveals that Rusesabagina does just that in his article about the hotel “Deserted by international Peacekeepers Rusesabagina began cashing in every favor he had ever earned, bribing the Rwandan Hutu soldiers and keeping the bloodthirsty militia outside the gates during the hundred days of slaughter.(Lovgren)” Being a Hutu hotel manager in Rwanda and harboring Tutsi fugitives including his wife and children is a death wish considering that the Hutu rebels will gladly kill everyone. Rusesabagina, the hotel manager, will do anything to keep his family and the innocent people living in his hotel alive. The Tutsis and himself both strive for survival. Likewise Valentina is a Tutsi girl who saw her parents and loved ones die at the feet of the dispassionate Hutus, leaving her with nothing but dead corpse’s, a broken body, and no shelter or food. Hundreds of Tutsi fugitives gathered around in a church that one day, one of them happened to be Valentina and her family. Her family was slaughtered but Valentina…

    • 1897 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    When assessing ethnic rivalry between the Hutus and the Tutsi it is evident that it was one of the significant factors that lead to the Rwandan Genocide. However, other contributing factors such as, the assassination of both the Rwandan and Burundi Presidents, the flaws in the demographic nature of the country, and the economic stance of the country were also integral to the outbreak of the Rwandan Genocide.…

    • 1384 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Chapter one – Darfur Crime Scenes – explores, in graphic detail, the firsthand accounts of exactly what happened to refugees in Darfur. The violent murders, rapes and destroying of property are clearly shown from the interviews, charts and data that the research teams in Darfur collected. In chapter two, the authors go back in time and discuss one of the other most famous mass genocides, the holocaust. The history aspect is important information because it helps explain why so many people were against calling Darfur genocide, and would only call it a “crime of crimes” and “a crime against humanity” (Hagan, Rymond-Richmond). The chapter also gives a background in criminology and shows how much early criminologists aided in bringing to justice the criminals of the holocaust and other crimes against humanity. The third chapter discusses how much information the rest of the world did not have about Darfur and it was legitimately going unnoticed in many parts of the world. It was not being reported on, and nothing was getting done. In chapter four, Flip-Flopping on Darfur, the efforts by the rest of the world finally begin to focus on Darfur. It discusses he Atrocities Documentation Survey and what information it gave researches and the rest of the world. The chapter also discusses the disparities that the different…

    • 1569 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Rwanda Film Analysis

    • 1739 Words
    • 7 Pages

    According to the Rothe and Mullins genocidal rape is defined as “ A systematically organized military tactic of terror and genocide used to (1) generate fear in subdued population, (2) humiliate the population (both men and women), (3) derogation of women (spoilage of identity), (4) create a cohort of mixed-ethnic children to maintain the humiliation/spoilage/domination. Such a use of sexual assault is an orchestrated tactic of warfare”( Kruger, 2). In Rwanda after the assassination of president, all the roads were blocked by Hutu militia; these blocked roads and Hutu barriers eventually became the base of executions and rapes. The major aim of this sexual violence was degradation and humiliation of the Tutsi. Tutsi women were brutally raped and their sexual organs were injured with spears, gun barrels, machetes and acids too. According to the Amnesty International report of 2004, approximately 250,000 to 500,000 Rwandan women were raped during the genocide (Mukamana and Brysiewicz, 380). It is the matter of argument that systematic, government planned rape and sexual enslavement proves to be an…

    • 1739 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Most of the time the smallest act can lead to the start of a genocide. But, in reality that last act was enough to throw a group over the edge, it was really those years of pent up fury that caused the genocide. According to Document Two and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, the Hutus were oppressed by having limited rights like not being able to have a good education, no land ownership or positions in government. By doing this the Tutsi limiting the Hutus of basic human needs. The Tutsis were power and had opportunities for jobs and living better lives, this made the Hutus resentment grow. Therefore in order for genocide to transpire oppression needs to occur. According to Document Four, and the Amnesty International Film Forgotten Cries, after independence (“Year of Africa”) oppression and discrimination in Rwanda changed because the Hutus took power and used oppression to limit the rights of the Tutsis. The Hutu took revenge to claim power back and a civil war broke…

    • 754 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Every case of genocide and mass murder has its own story and anotherness, they also didn’t happen in the blink of an eye. The perpetrators of these events have always had a fundamental reason to what led them to execute such gruesome crimes. Most may know, the German holocaust and the Rwandan genocide are the two most known and most terrible violation of human rights because of the amount of people that were killed and the way in which these murders were performed. This essay is a discussion of key similarities and differences of the roles of perpetrators in the two case studies; Rwandan genocide and the German…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    ETHNIC CONFLICT DBQ

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Although the severity of ethnic conflict has been improved by the making of the United Nations and Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it is still a major issue in some parts of the world. A major conflict arose in a central African country called Rwanda. In Rwanda there were two tribes called the Hutus and the Tutsis. The break out of the genocide was an effect of longstanding competition and rivalry between the Hutu people who had come to power during this rebellion and the Tutsi people who were being targeted in the genocide. The Hutu people were not always in power in Rwanda (Doc. 7). During the time of Belgium colonial power in Rwanda the Tutsis took over the land and held control over the Hutus. Once the colonial power left Rwanda the Hutus took power. After the Hutus took power they showed no mercy on the Tutsi people. The genocide officially began when a plane was gunned down that contained the leader of the Rwandan government who was also a Hutu. The Hutus began slaughtering the Tutsi people including women and children. Tutsi women were being violently raped every minute of every hour of every day, every 60 seconds men women and children were being murdered (Doc. 8). This conflict came about because of a fight for power over. The genocide in Rwanda was not interrupted or stopped by those in the western power. Since Rwanda was not an ally to the West the genocide didn’t concern the western…

    • 876 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This horrific event in history took place because of simple greed and power struggle. The Hutus that were to blame for this genocide planned, physically trained, and mapped out this entire event for one result. The Hutus simply wanted control and ultimate power in Rwanda. Gourevitch states “Perhaps, in examining this extremity with me, you hope for some understanding, some insight, some flicker of self-knowledge-a moral, or a lesson, or a clue about how to behave in this world… but when it comes to genocide, you already know right from wrong” (841). Human beings do not have to be taught to desire control, power, wealth, etc. Human beings already have these desires within them naturally. As a child we dream about being a person of power- the president, actor, singer, police officer, children don’t dream at a young age of being someone who makes a positive difference or being inspiring. We naturally seek power and authority. As Gourevitch stated, anyone should know right from wrong in this situation but there has to be a greater desire to do wrong than right for someone to go through with an act as abominable as the genocide in Rwanda. Somehow, the members of the Hutus who murdered these 800,000 people missed some sort of development or illustration of good versus evil. The Hutus were very likely not developed to have good character or common…

    • 1121 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The book Lord of the Flies contains a number of subliminal meanings. One of those is how without authority figures how quickly society can fall apart and people can turn into barbaric beasts. In 1994 in the African country of Rwanda, where the Hutu tribe senselessly murdered almost 1,000,000 Tutsi men, women, and children. Just as Lord of the Flies shows how society can quickly break down and people can turn into savages, the Rwandan Genocide is a prime example of society breaking down in the real world.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, it is clear that there are many contributing factors that acted as a catalyst to the Rwandan genocide. During a time where political instability was the only type of political structure, it is apparent that the rise of anti-political groups, propaganda meant to influence civilians towards taking a side, and colonial oppression causing a polarizing between the Hutus and Tutsis, all played a large role in the start of the genocide. Despite this, it is apparent that there was not one cause, but instead a melting pot of different issues that spilled over into greater…

    • 1330 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Imperialism In Rwanda

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Rwanda, a small landlocked country in central Africa, has a long and rich history of differences and conflicts. One of the most known historic events of this region is the Rwandan Genocide which took 800,000 lives over the course of four months (Britannica). The conflict between two tribal groups, the Hutu and Tutsis, had been accumulating for decades before it finally reached its breaking point. The Rwandan genocide can be attributed to three main factors: Belgian colonial policies, tribal tensions between the Hutus and Tutsis, and the assassination of the Rwandan president. Before European colonization Rwanda was united under a total Tutsi government.…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before beginning to analyze the similarities and differences between the perpetrators, one may first discuss the causes of the genocides. Firstly, the Rwandan genocide and the stories surrounding it have led to a birth of different explanations of the crime. According to Hintjenns, some of these interpretations include colonialism, ethnic and analytical conflict, economic and social crisis (Hintjens). Many have argued that even as all these were contributing factors, the main cause of the Rwandan genocide was the involvement of both the Belgian and the German colonial policies (Man 2005). The two main ethnic groups in Rwanda, the Hutus and the Tutsis lived in harmony for many years, but with the new born idea of “divide and rule” brought by…

    • 342 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When it comes to genocides, there must be a reason people commit these terrible acts and a goal they have for them. It was April 6th 1994 when the plane carrying the president at the time, Juvenal Habyarimana, and his counterpart Cyprien Ntaryamira who were both Hutus, was shot down and killed everyone on board. Hutu extremists believed the Rwandan Patriotic Front was to blame and that was how the killing of the Tutsi minority began. The Hutu extremists goal for this genocide was to kill all of the Tutsi minority and anybody against the genocide. They did this by broadcasting hate propaganda telling people to “weed out the cockroaches” on radio stations and newspapers. Overall about 800,000 people were killed. The…

    • 826 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hutu extremist ideology was a main cause of the Rwandan genocide. Reflecting back on the essay we can conclude that a combination of the historic events and ideology of hatred contributed to the genocide. The media was a significant tool which assisted the Hutus in speeding their ideology. In effect the combination of both the ideology and the media resulted in the genocide.…

    • 4123 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays