Towards the end of this movie I commented to my mom how glad I was that her grandparents escaped Russia when they did. They left in 1917, as far as I know, months before the harshest revolution. I always thought Fiddler on the Roof was pretty bleak, but the depiction of Russian life under the rule of Lenin and Stalin is even more bleak. Sure the love story is a bit of a bright spot, but not bright enough to warm up how awful Communism in early 1900s Russia was.
As I watched the scenes of fright, escape, or general terror, I realized how lucky I am to be so incredibly comfortable living with freedom. Even in our post-9/11 world, even with today’s mass transit tragedy in London, I still feel safe. I listened to the Secretary of Homeland Security this morning and other talking heads on various news sources, and I thought about those who are critical of the precautions we take now. We don’t know everything. How many threats are averted EVERY DAY because of the system we have in place? I don’t necessarily want to know the answer, but I venture to guess several times people in our country have been spared without even knowing they were in danger.
While I don’t agree with all the provisions of The PATRIOT act, (did ya know it’s an acronym?) it’s a bit of a relief that I don’t yet have to run from Bolsheviks or whoever. I’m probably not making much sense, but I was just really struck by how easy I have it.
The fact that I was thinking all of this while watching the movie tells me it was a quality movie. Sometimes I really like being affected by a film in this way–I love how some films, regardless of age, can cause me to draw connections to current societal problems.
