The Movie, "The Power of Words"

Interesting movie tonight on a DVD we bought for a couple of dollars. The theme was about trauma and its effects.

The nurse doctored a patient who'd lost his sight due to an explosion on an oil rigg, was the main character. She was withdrawn and obviously emotionally distant, but no one knew the reason, until the tension had built in the moive such that when she revealed "her secret", the audience could "feel a release" of tension, which added to the feeling of anger toward her revelation, i.e., the problem.

The secret was of her political and emotional abuse by the police in her country of Yugoslavia. She's been repeatedly raped, seen her best friend die in front of her, bleeding slowly to death. She had witnessed an officier putting a gun in the hands of another prisoner and "helping" her insert the gun into her vagina, pulling the trigger. Such emotional and physical abuse one cannot imagine. But, the full impact was revealed by her psychologist to her former patient.

The patient had fallen in love with her, but she left him before he had had surgury to regain his eyesight. The fully recovered patient found her psychologist and asked if she could help him. The psychologist warned him that she would be affected possibly forever by such experiences. The effect of surviving such an incident is "shame". The questions that continue to haunt her about her survival when the rest had died would not be easy to get over, if at all..  But, he still wanted to find her.

When he finally found her, he gave her the satchel she'd left behind. She started to walk away, only to hear him tell her he wanted her to come with him. She told him that she was afraid that if she did, she'd start to cry at some point and never be able to stop and they'd both drown. He smiled and told her he'd learn to swim.

The pain she carried in her heart was not something that can be reconciled with any belief in "Providence", God, or a caring or just world. That kind of pain is brought about by those that seek to inflict their control and domination of others. Such behavior is more common in groups, where there is a comaradie about why "the other" deserves such abuse. Those that are different and outside the scope of humankind.

What is "humankind"? What makes us all human? The ability to think, reason, feel and commit to certain behaviors? Humans have a lot to learn before we all will come to understand all the answers to that question. But, the answers might just give us insight into how to prevent such atrocities in the future.

Cicero's Quotes and War

Cicero


Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else's traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man's character is, the better it fits him.

Laws are silent in times of war.


Let your desires be ruled by reason.


The revolution in Egypt is disturbing to many, because such "mob" behavior disturbs peace and assures that "costs far outweigh" initial benefit. One must be sure that the costs will bring benefit to a society, before one considers such hard decisions.
 
One thing for sure, Cicero believed that one should be discrete in going to war. War should be evaluated based on one's enemies, and whether they are merciful, or barbarian. I think his wisdom still holds sway over our military and its educational institutions. War is never the response of a civilized society, it is a last resort to protect the interests of its citizens, and it interests.