Babel (2006)

Anonymous says:

People judging this movie for its feasibility or realism or “cinematic greatness” (this seems to be everyone) have missed the point completely. Although set in real cities with real (if, to some filmgoers, unsatisfying) characters and with many handheld ("realistic") shots, this is a film that operates on a symbolic level to portray how the Western world is poisoning the so-called "Global Village". Think about the fact that the first shot is a man bringing a rifle to an "uncivilized" home. Think, then, about the effects that rifle has on their once peaceful lives. Think about the Japanese man with animal heads mounted in his home (is there a better symbol of imperialism?) that gave this man the rifle in the first place. Think about the bus full of Western tourists so paranoid about the "terrorists" they clearly have equipped. Think about Cate Blanchett being airlifted out of the country like it were Vietnam and the broadcast saying the American's finally have the "happy ending" they so proudly proclaimed when they dethroned Saddam in "Operation Iraqi Freedom". Think about the way the Mexican woman is given a job in the United States, but then treated like slime even after dedicating her life to becoming a contributing member of its society. Think about the deaf girl who begs for her body to be exploited like the sexual objects that fill every sort of media outlet in Western society. Think about how she stands naked and ashamed in the metropolis of the final shot: a human in her natural form is entirely out of place in any fully Westernized place.

This is not some dramatic sapfest about how we should all learn to get along (see "Crash"). This is a poetic portrayal of how the West is bringing the world to its knees.