This quote comes from Anil's Ghost by Michael Ondaajte
"American movies, English books - remember how they end? Gamini asked that night. "The American or the Englishman gets on a plane and leaves. That's it. The camera leaves with him. He looks out of the window at Mombasa or Vietnam or Jakarta someplace now he can look at through clouds. The tired hero. A couple of words to the girl beside him. He's going home. So the war, to all purposes is over. That's enough reality for the West. It's probably the history of the last two hundred years of Western political writing. Go home. Write a Book. Hit the circuit."
Two things in this quote grabbed me. The idea that once the movie is over, once hype is done, the problem is solved. Not much thought is given to the destruction that has occurred, or the rebuilding that needs to happen. I'm sure if you ask residents of Hiroshima or Nagasaki, they can give you clear examples of the legacy left for them. Regardless of what is done in a country, the reasons behind it, whether you agree with the action or not, we cannot just wash our hands of the consequences.
The second thing that grabbed me was the last bit. Go home. Write a book. Hit the circuit. It's so true. The cynic in me wonders if in the heat of the event, someone is secretly thrilled about the material they are being able to gather.
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