I wrote this review 5 years ago, but I still feel this way. I enjoyed writing this review and welcome discussion.
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Today I saw the great "Casablanca" for the first
time. Originally written as a play called "Everybody Comes to
Rick's," the film, while dated in appearance, is poignant in both theme
and morality.
I thought as I watched this film, "How many people have
been stranded by the latest battles around the world? How many lives and loves
have been shattered and separated? How many of us have done the right thing in
response?"
There is no simple answer to any of these questions as they
relate to our current international situation. To compare, we previously had a
clear enemy and a clear objective. Now, we are uncertain of exactly who we are
fighting, and what outcome we hope to achieve. However, I do not find this
situation is to be blamed exclusively on decision-makers. We have a great
responsibility ourselves.
We as consumers have demanded such amazing technologies,
some of which begin through military experimentation as terrible weapons. The
more terrifying and impersonal these weapons have become, the more fearful we
are of the slightest knock or noise. We walk on eggshells as an internal defense, attempting not to offend people of differing opinions or circumstances
simply because we fear an unexpected retribution - legal or violent, we expect
the worst because everyone is now prepared to provide it for the protection of
his own pride and way of life.
We prepare amazing defenses designed to strike out at the
first sign of impending attack. Atom bombs, H-bombs, and worse - terrible
attitudes towards our fellow man, law suits and letters of complaint. While its
true that we can never predict when a crazy, self-proclaimed messenger of God
will appear and try to kill everyone, does it benefit any of us to be
constantly on guard with our emotions and generosity? Is there some protection
of the law that says we have a right not to be offended, and if we are, the
government should step in and fight for us?
Some say we are fighting the war because the U.S. wants oil,
and they stick it to us at the gas pump. Then we say we are trapped because we
have no choices, and I think that is far from the truth. We have a choice, we
are simply unwilling to pay the price necessary for that change. What kind of
SUV do you drive? If you boycotted your gasoline engine until the government
legitimately subsidized a real alternative fuel program, do you think we could
be ignored? "But the oil companies have the politicians in their pockets."
Because you keep giving them the resources to lure our decision-makers.
Don't
shout from the window of your Hummer that the president doesn't care about the
soldiers or the American ecosystem. It's conjecture unless you know his mind.
Besides, he would obviously be protecting your interests. So many, even in
Hollywood, on their high horses talk about the terrible G. W. Bush and his poor
action in this war. Many of those people were shouting for action after 9/11.
Can we really have it both ways?
I think Casablanca shows us a reality of decision making
that we take for granted. Rick's represented America, and how safe we feel
here. Protected by our power and connections. 9/11 was like the Nazi's coming
in and changing the dynamic of our everyday operations. Rick represented each
of us, knowing what is right in his heart, but hurt by the reality of he wanted
and the understanding that he is losing it forever. We have lost two things,
just like Rick. One, we have lost the safe haven that the"United States"
once provided through its relative insulation. Two, like Rick when Ilsa
revealed that she was, in fact, married when they fell in love, and married
still; we are now disillusioned to what freedom is and the true price of being
in her company.
I think this is what makes this latest series of conflicts
so dangerous to our society and to our soldiers. We were scrambling to
understand a very strange world. As we drank heavily and wore our pants
backwards, the world changed in such a way that it was no longer afraid or incapable
of reaching us. We are not insulated any more, and we are not immune. And like
Rick, we will each of us come to a point where we must make a decision.
War is an inevitable part of human existence, mainly because
there are enough people who are, "nasty, brutish, and short-[ fill in
the blank]." Let the old notion of Lady Liberty go. She doesn't exist
as she once did. Where we have demanded so much in her name, we've left a
wrinkle, scar, or crow's foot for every thing we have taken from her. Choose a
side; stand and fight; and agree upon no action when there is neither a victor
nor consensus. But let the battles relate only to the situation and to the
opinions that set us juxtaposed, because a person in America who has researched
and considered enough to have a well formed opinion is one of the greatest
assets remaining in our country, a citizen with a vote. And it is in that way
that we are now equal. No princes or paupers, no generals or civilians, no
black or white, male or female but rather a people with decisions made and a
voice to speak, and a ballot to cast.
It is with trust in your hearts that the Almighty God has a
plan at you can safely cast your ballot. That while the country continues to
love Him first and trust in Him, that we will continue to make our paths
straight. Some of you don't believe that He plays this role, and you are
entitled to think that way. You are equally entitled to ignore everything I
have said and supplant it with your own reality. But you cannot take it away
from me, change it, or prevent me from teaching or sharing it. And that is what
is supposed to make this country great. That is worth fighting for. That is
what happens at the end of Casablanca when Rick must defend his choice and
right to give his exit visas to Victor [the truth] and Ilsa [the freedom].
Perhaps once we eliminate our barriers and
defenses of comfort and self-assuring preconceptions, we too, will be able to
see, as one, the RIGHT and not just the GOOD course of action.
