Pseudoscience fuels racism

Geraldine 2022-04-21 09:01:21

I want to combine the plot of the film with the story in a book.

In 1919, the Treaty of Versailles was signed, and Belgium took control of Rwanda, a former German colony. At that time, there was a famous priest named Bob, under his impetus, phrenology theory spread in Belgium, but also spread to the colony of Rwanda.

But what happened next started to develop in a dark direction. The pastor traveled to many prisons, measured the inmates with instruments he made, and concluded which ones were "normal" and which ones were "abnormal."

In a colonial office in Belgium at that time, the colonists used this relatively "advanced" instrument to measure the heads of different local races, and the results came to the conclusion that the Tutsi were declared superior to the Hutu. As a result, the two races were treated differently, and as a result, the Tutsi had the upper hand in all respects and gained all kinds of benefits. This trend became more and more intense, and the final outcome was played in the movie. In 1994, Hutu extremists killed 1 million Tutsi and moderate Hutu, resulting in a tragedy.

These contents can be used as supplementary material for the film. In fact, some event backgrounds of the film are more interesting.

My suggestion is not unfounded. You can refer to the book "The Earth is Flat" published by the Commercial Press, which describes the ins and outs of this matter more clearly.

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Extended Reading

Hotel Rwanda quotes

  • [last lines]

    Pat Archer: [walking with family towards bus] They said that there wasn't any room.

    Paul Rusesabagina: There's always room.

  • Colonel Oliver: [after telling Paul the West thinks his people are dirt] They're not going to stay, Paul. They're not going to stop the slaughter.