Stechison,+Caroline

  Caroline Stechison Historical Investigation Question: **To what extent is the movie Hotel Rwanda an accurate portrayal of the Rwandan Genocide?**

**A. Plan of Investigation**: The purpose of this investigation is to compare the movie "Hotel Rwanda" to the events of the Rwandan Genocide and analyze the movie's accuracy. The main part of the investigation will be evidence gathered from a number of secondary sources that proves how accurate the movie is compared to the actual genocide. It will prove how accurately the movie portrayed Paul Rusesabagina's character and role of the Rwandan media. Two sources, the movie "Hotel Rwanda" and Jean Hatzfeld's book __Machete Season__, will be used frequently throughout the investigation to compare the movie to historical events and will be evaluated based on their origin, purpose, value, and limitations. Both of these along with many other sources will help me understand the comparison between the movie and the historical evidence. A conclusion will be reached regarding the extent to which the movie is an accurate portrayal of the Rwandan Genocide.

**B. Summary of Evidence:** Based on historical evidence, April 6, 1994 marked the beginning of Rwanda's genocide and Paul Rusesabagina's journey to save thousands of Tutsi's lives. That day, the plane carrying Rwandan President Habyarimana was shot down. It was set up to look as though the Tutsi’s were responsible for his death, but was in fact the Hutu’s way of setting up a mass murder of all Tutsi citizens [1]. Paul Rusesabagina, a Hutu hotel owner in Rwanda, feared for his family because his wife was a Tutsi. He moved the family to the hotel for safety and allowed the guests to stay for protection. Paul tried calling on the government and the UN to help protect the people, but received no help [2]. Only a few weeks had passed before the military arrived at the hotel. They ordered Paul to evacuate all the Tutsis inside and was given a very short amount of time to carry out the order. Paul began calling the influential people across the world he knew, desperate for any help he could get to protect the Tutsis and his family. After many calls, the only success he had was with the Director General of the French Foreign Ministry who sent a colonel from the National Police to force the military to leave. Throughout the genocide, he housed 1,200 Tutsi refugees [3]. Due to his determination to protect these people, he made it possible to avoid attacks and save the lives of hundreds of innocent people. Although the military stepped in to send away the Hutus, it was Paul that single handedly took care of the refugees and put his life in jeopardy to keep them safe.

The media, more specifically the radio, had a crucial role in the genocide. Radio stations like Radio Television Libre Mille-Collines were said to have paved the way for the genocide [4]. Directly following the shooting of the president, the radio called for “a final war” in which all the Tutsi’s would be murdered. They were referred to as cockroaches that needed to be exterminated [5]. The radio provided the Hutu killers with the information they needed to carry out the murders. They told them where the Tutsis were hiding and how to find them. They even read off a list of names of people to kill [6].

Some of the men involved in the “hate media” during the Rwandan genocide were put on trial shortly after the genocide came to an end. Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza and Ferdinand Nahimana were two of the many who were tried. Barayagwiza was given a 35 year sentence and Nahimana was sentenced to life in prison [7].

Some say that if the media had simply replaced the hateful messages with peaceful words, many of the killings would have never taken place [8]. In the movie "Hotel Rwanda" Paul Rusesabagina was portrayed as a positive and hopeful man who was determined to save the Tutsi's in his hotel. One scene shows a true change in his character. He drives by a river filled with dead bodies of Tutsis. Paul’s hope is shattered but his determination strengthens in the movie, but did this really happen in real life?

Hotel Rwanda also featured a lot of radio announcements informing Hutus of how to find the hiding Tutsis. In one dramatic scene, Paul had to make the decision to remain at the hotel with the refugees and let his family leave the country without him. The media played an extremely crucial role that originally made me question its true significance. As the truck of refugees pulled away, the radio began announcing where the truck was going and how to intercept it in order to kill the escaping Tutsis. Without the media, the truck would have safely left the country giving the Tutsis a safe place to live.

**C. Evaluation of Sources:** Hotel Rwanda. Terry George. 2004. Film. Hotel Rwanda is based on the events of the Rwandan Genocide in the early 1990’s. It was made in 2004, just over ten years after the genocide. Terry George, directer of Hotel Rwanda, created the movie to accurately portray the events in Rwanda from the Hutu and Tutsi perspectives and to enhance the intelligence of those who never fully understood the events in this genocide. Terry George shares his purpose for creating the film and says “For ten years now I’ve struggled to make a film about Africa--- a political film that would have as its canvas the poverty, violence, and anarchy that plagues the continent. Then i read a draft screenplay about a Rwandan called Paul Rusesabagina and knew this was the story I had to tell”. His main purpose for creating this was to draw attention to Africa and to all the hardships they have faced. The value of George’s work is that people get a great understanding of how the genocide began, why it happened, what it was like. and how it ended. However, the movie only tells the story of one family. Many people suffered in this genocide and have incredible stories and experiences that could have been told to enhance out knowledge of the genocide.

Jean Hatzfeld. Machete Season. New York. Picador. 2003   Hatzfeld’s book Machete Season is a book written by the murderers of the Rwandan Genocide, the Hutus. Hatzfeld, a reporter, war correspondent and writer, developed an interest in the Rwandan conflict. He worked for Liberation which gave him a job as a reporter in Rwanda. He soon decided to quit his job at the Liberation to focus solely on the genocide. He wrote many books about the conflict, including __Machete Season__. His purpose behind writing these books is clear; he wants people across the world to understand the genocide in Rwanda and the horrible violence the Tutsi's experienced. The value of Hatzfeld’s work is that he does not just focus on the side of the victim like most other sources do. Instead he interviews the killers. He gives his audience a perspective they never thought they would get which allows them to understand the genocide as a whole. The problem with this particular book is that there aren’t different types of Hutu’s in the story. All of them had similar experiences and feelings towards the events during the genocide. It would have been interesting to see some who regret the decisions they made, and some who didn’t.

**D. Analysis** Terry George’s film “Hotel Rwanda” does its job of informing viewers about the horrors of the Rwandan Genocide, but like any work of art, there is always room for improvement. When determining how accurate this film is, its important to compare different aspects of the film to its historical evidence. In this case, the character and actions of Paul Rusesabagina and the Rwandan media were analyzed and prove to be relatively accurate.

In every great movie, there is a hero. In “Hotel Rwanda” that hero is Paul Rusesabagina. Any historical source will tell you that Paul is nothing short of amazing and that without him, thousands of more people would have died in the Rwandan Genocide. Terry George attempts to capture this same character in the movie. Steve Persall of the St Petersburg Times Online states that George does not make Rwanda look dangerous enough. Because of this misinterpretation the efforts of Rusesabagina don’t seem like the big deal that they actually were [9]. Although the character of Paul Rusesabagina was slightly different, Don Cheadle portrayed him beautifully. Despite Terry George’s mistakes, Cheadle made up for them with his perfect accent, emotion and determination [10]. If George has only amplified the horror and violence going on in Rwanda, then Paul’s decisions and efforts to save the Tutsis would have been that much more heroic.

Its obvious that the media played a significant role in the genocide when you study the historical evidence, but the movie showed the media playing a much more subtle role with very little influence. In the movie the media didn’t appear quite as important as it really was. According to Russell Smith of BBC News, the radio would broadcast lists of people to be killed and instructed killers on where to find them [11]. This only happened once or twice in the movie [12]. Not enough to fully understand just how important the radio was. Viewers get the impression that the Hutu’s know exactly what they’re doing. The radio just seems like a simple reminder that there are Tutsis hiding and that they better be found. There were quite a few well known radio announcers who played a significant role in the genocide and were eventually tried for “hate media” [13]. Had Terry George included some of these famous broadcasters, audiences would have understood these broadcasters are real and that they really effected the genocide.

When capturing a serious tragedy like the Rwandan Genocide in a film, there is bound to be information that gets cut out. Not only is there missing information, certain aspects are portrayed very differently giving the audience an incomplete understanding of the genocide. Steve Parsell of the St. Petersburg Times Online explains that Terry George just assumes Americans understand the conflict between Hutus and Tutsis [14]. When the audience is unaware of such conflict, it doesn’t have as strong of an effect [15]. The film was rated PG-13 which limited the amount of violence shown. This is perhaps why George is criticized for not making Rwanda dangerous enough [16]. All the Rwandan corpses we see belong to people we did not know which limits our emotional connection to them [17]. Terry George created a small connection with Paul’s nieces who go missing in the violence, but viewers needed more emotional connection than that to really feel for Paul and the others.

Despite the incredible effect this film has on its audiences, the film has its far share of inaccuracies. In the movie, Hutu women and children played were not significant at all to the violence. However, in the actual genocide they participated in the murders [18]. Women also fulfilled their regular duties as wives for their husbands. They cooked large meals for them to give them enough energy to last them a whole days worth of killings [19]. Without women, men wouldn’t have been able to effectively kill the Tutsis.

**E. Conclusion** Trusting the accuracy of any film portraying a historical event is always questionable. In order to get the dramatic effect, emotional connection, and undivided attention of the audience, accuracy is not always guaranteed. Terry George’s “Hotel Rwanda” is no exception to this reality. After analyzing multiple secondary sources, it became clear that Terry George did a decent job at portraying the genocide accurately. Comparing the historical evidence of the genocide and the movie itself helped prove that the movie accurately portrayed Paul’s character. However it lacked accuracy pertaining to the role of the media and the overall level of danger in Rwanda. Despite no historical explanation of the Hutu Tutsi conflict, lack of detail, and missing information, audience members still great a good //basic// understanding of what happened in Rwanda in the early 1990’s.

**F. Sources and Word Limit** Endnotes [1] “Genocide in Rwanda.” United Human Rights Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/‌genocide/‌genocide_in_rwanda.htm__] >. [2] ibid [3] “Paul Rusesabagina.” No ‘Ordinary’ Man. National Public Radio. NPR, n.p., 6 Apr. 2006. National Public Radio. Web. Transcript. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.npr.org/‌templates/‌story/‌story.php?storyId=5324187__] >. [4 ]“Radio Television Libre Mille-Collines.” Enotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.enotes.com/‌genocide-encyclopedia/‌radio-television-libre-mille-collines__] >. [5] Smith, Russell. “The Impact of Hate Media in Rwanda.” BBC News. N.p., 3 Dec. 2003. Web. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://news.bbc.co.uk/‌2/‌hi/‌africa/‌3257748.stm__] >. [6 ] Ibid [7] Ibid [8 ] Ibid [9] Persall, Steve. “Horror Briefly Checks into ‘Hotel Rwanda.’” Rev. of //Hotel Rwanda//. //St. Petersburg Times Online//. N.p., 13 Jan. 2005. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. < [|__http://www.sptimes.com/‌2005/‌01/‌13/‌Weekend/‌Horror_briefly_checks.shtml__] >. [10] Ibid [11] Smith, Russell. “The Impact of Hate Media in Rwanda.” //BBC News//. N.p., 3 Dec. 2003. Web. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://news.bbc.co.uk/‌2/‌hi/‌africa/‌3257748.stm__] >. [12] Hotel Rwanda. Terry George. 2004. Film. [13] Smith, Russell. “The Impact of Hate Media in Rwanda.” //BBC News//. N.p., 3 Dec. 2003. Web. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://news.bbc.co.uk/‌2/‌hi/‌africa/‌3257748.stm__] >. [14] Persall, Steve. “Horror Briefly Checks into ‘Hotel Rwanda.’” Rev. of //Hotel Rwanda//. //St. Petersburg Times Online//. N.p., 13 Jan. 2005. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. < [|__http://www.sptimes.com/‌2005/‌01/‌13/‌Weekend/‌Horror_briefly_checks.shtml__] >. [15] Ibid [16] Ibid [17] Ibid [18] Lu, Mimi. “Hotel Rwanda.” Rev. of //Hotel Rwanda//. //Helium//. N.p., 2010. Web. 6 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.helium.com/‌items/‌719906-movie-reviews-hotel-rwanda-2004__] >. [19] Hatzfeld, Jean. //Machete Season//. New York: Picador, 2003. Print.

Sources “Genocide in Rwanda.” //United Human Rights Council//. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/‌genocide/‌genocide_in_rwanda.htm__] >. Hatzfeld, Jean. //Machete Season//. New York: Picador, 2003. Print. //Hotel Rwanda//. Terry George. 2004. Film. Lu, Mimi. “Hotel Rwanda.” Rev. of //Hotel Rwanda//. //Helium//. N.p., 2010. Web. 6 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.helium.com/‌items/‌719906-movie-reviews-hotel-rwanda-2004__] >.  Mimi Lu. “Hotel Rwanda.” //Helium//. N.p., 2004. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. < [|__http://www.helium.com/‌items/‌719906-movie-reviews-hotel-rwanda-2004__] >. “Paul Rusesabagina.” //No ‘Ordinary’ Man//. National Public Radio. NPR, n.p., 6 Apr. 2006. //National Public Radio//. Web. Transcript. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.npr.org/‌templates/‌story/‌story.php?storyId=5324187__] >. Persall, Steve. “Horror Briefly Checks into ‘Hotel Rwanda.’” Rev. of //Hotel Rwanda//. //St. Petersburg Times Online//. N.p., 13 Jan. 2005. Web. 4 Nov. 2010. < [|__http://www.sptimes.com/‌2005/‌01/‌13/‌Weekend/‌Horror_briefly_checks.shtml__] >.  “Radio Television Libre Mille-Collines.” //Enotes//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.enotes.com/‌genocide-encyclopedia/‌radio-television-libre-mille-collines__] >. “Serugendo, Joseph.” //The Hague Justice Portal//. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://www.haguejusticeportal.net/‌ecache/‌def/‌9/‌729.html__] >. Smith, Russell. “The Impact of Hate Media in Rwanda.” //BBC News//. N.p., 3 Dec. 2003. Web. 2 Sept. 2010. < [|__http://news.bbc.co.uk/‌2/‌hi/‌africa/‌3257748.stm__] >.

Word Count 1,987 words total (not including section F)