Until an honest and insightful documentary is made about the corruption on Wall Street and how our politicians are in bed with the banks and lobbyists--Hey, wait a minute. Wasn't that the theme of CAPITALISM, A Love Story last year?--we Progressive Patriots will have to be satisfied with a film that honestly depicts horrific corruption on a national level which focuses on another county, such as China, not the U.S.A. Last year the documentary film sensation was THE COVE. That was a great film and I did pick it to win the Oscar (which it did). However, Michael Moore's best documentary ever did not even get a nomination. We just can't seem to face our own shortcomings as a nation.
What we tend to do is look elsewhere when looking for crimes against humanity. This year we look again within the bullied borders of China. Granted, if we get a chance to pierce the bamboo veil anywhere in Asia it seems, one does not have to look far to find abuses. I guess that's the nature of totalitarian governments (oh, there I go talking about the U.S.A. again, some of you are probably saying...sorry).
We have great documentary evidence that these crimes are and have been taking place in China for many decades. Something that many of us already know. That's why a movie playing now at the Newport Film Festival entitled, SONG OF TIBET was such a refreshing approach to these abuses. I can't say that I was pleased (it's hard to say you liked a movie about genocide), but I did wholeheartedly appreciate the film as it depicts, through stunning photography and tightly edited images the true story of writer/director Ngawang Choephel. In this 87 minute opus, Choephel documents his initial quest to record the folk songs of Tibet, which comes at a bad time for the Chinese government. They, unfortunately are trying to erase the language, culture and history of Tibet to be more Chinese. After all, the Dalai Lama has been in exhile in China for over fifty years. They call him a terrorist, in the popular vernacular of the day and absolutely do not want the Tibetans to be singing those old anti-communist songs such as "the milking song" or "the roofing song." What would happen if Tibetans were allowed to be cheerful while they performed their daily duties? In the case of a milking song udder chaos! Choephel was arrested and imprisoned for 6 years for his crimes. In 2008 he was released due to the efforts of his mother to bring to bear the scrutiny of world opinion (with the help of heavyweights like Paul McCartney or the U.S. Congress). He returned to finish this film and let us know that the battle for freedom is not over in Tibet.
So, I appreciated this movie not because it brought up any new information about the plight of the Tibetans, but because it magnified the absurdity of one culture trying to completely absorb another. No matter how big the walls we built are, people want to enjoy their lives in their own way. No wall is so big, no government policy so restrictive that it can destroy a culture (like, say the Mexicans).
Go see Song of Tibet, if you get a chance. So far, we have not made any laws in this county to prevent that, yet.
