Inspiring

Rating: Null/10 (5 December 2001)

Although I totally applaud this film for its power, honesty, and riveting performances and direction, I feel I must address a greater issue at stake here. In viewing the film for the second time two nights ago, I was suddenly inspired to find out some historical answers for myself. Growing up in a Hindu family, I was ever surrounded by Swastikas, an ancient symbol of peace and good luck for the Hindus. In just one hour of searching on the internet yesterday, I was amazed with the amount of information concerning the origins of this symbol, which was used by countless cultures over the world, for everything from religions to sports teams to nationalistic symbols. That the Nazis appropriated it and (forever) changed the world view of it, in such a tiny fragment of its long history, is sad and unfortunate. Hindus, to this day, have continued to use it as they always have - a statement of utter rejection of the Nazi regime. History also shows the seed of white supremacy in the divide-and-conquer politics of British Imperialism. In as much that I learned in one hour on the internet - about the Swastika, the Aryans, the Indus Valley, and European "scholars" - I know there is a lot more to discover. I implore everyone out there to dig a little deeper into history and find out for themselves.
BTW, excellent film!