Rambo, Burma’s Calling
I don’t know much about the situation in Myanmar. What I do know isn’t good. A militaristic regime is treating the people terribly, and now news comes that thousands of monks have been massacred and dumped in the jungle. If it’s true, it’s bad. Really bad. What should one do? The peaceful demonstrations by the monks obviously haven’t worked and the world couldn’t really care less.
Is there a time for peace and a time for action? If peaceful demonstration doesn’t work, should one engage in fighting. Is armed rebellion OK if the government is corrupt, evil and dangerous?
Stallone is going currently filming John Rambo, the fourth and supposedly final movie in the series. Coming off of the success of Rocky Balboa, it makes perfect sense. Coincidentally, the plot of the movie involves Rambo going into Burma to rescue Christian missionaries who have been captured, tortured, etc. The trailer is weirdly moving: combining Bible text with R-rated scenes of Rambo mopping up Burmese soldiers.
Apparently, Stallone and his crew actually saw a lot of the travesty for themselves. If only Rambo were real, he cares enough to clean up other people’s messes…
Check out the trailer (r-rated)
what’s happening in burma is sad. neat timing for stallone’s flick.
check out the following link to see how you can sign a petition that will pressure china and burma (through the UN).
it’s from a cool activist site: http://www.avaaz.org/en/stand_with_burma/
you can also read an interesting article that talks about the massacre at my http://www.raisetheirvoice.com
Maybe the macho type Rambos are a myth, but I remember watching a movie of Robin Williams based on Vietnamese war, in that he develops a crush on a Vietnamese girl and for that he gets to teaching the ppl there English, besides doing morning Radio shows that are lively and very friendly.
He ends up having a large fan following as well as making people happy during such difficult times…Maybe absolute peace is difficult to achieve but ppl like such could give others some moments of pure bliss and satisfaction
Thanks for posting that article on your site, Andrew (it is Andrew, isn’t it — I can never keep these Kooman boys straight!).
I’ve found this whole Burmese situation very distressing — first the uprising, and the courage of these people who took to the streets en masse against unjust rulers who remain in power only by the gun; and the example of the monks; then the suppression and massacre of the protesters, and the relative lack of information that got out; and now the protests dying down again, although I’m sure people there are finding unique ways to protest all the time. That photo of the dead monk lying face down in the river is awful, and one I hadn’t seen before. The relative lack of interest/action from the rest of the world.
Gotta give some credit to U2; Burma was on their radar long before it was fashionable (check the liner notes for All That You Can’t Leave Behind).
This is Chris’ site. You may have read Andrew’s article