Schindler's List of Hope

All right, I've just finished watching the movie Schindler's List.  I now want to write some thoughts down while they are still fresh.  But with a movie so moving and captivating, I don't know if I'll ever be able to forget it.

The movie certainly was one of the best films I've watched in a long time.  I was surprised at how much depth and amount of introspection the movie consisted of.  Usually, I'm not  that interested in learning all about the holocaust during World War II, since it's been repeatedly taught over and over in school.  However, I'm always astounded of how perplexing and interesting to re-learn the experience where many holocaust survivors would wish to erase.  Of course, watching the unfathomable reality of how humanity was disregarded and stepped upon was no easy expidenture, but I've realized how mesmorizing it was and how unquestionably hard it was to endure such agony and pain--to watch your brothers and sisters being ripped away from you, and to see your parents and other family members separated as you were ordered to do so by the Nazi soldiers.  The reality became so real--so tense and obscure--that it became unrealistic.

Having watched the movie, I can definately say Oskar Schindler was indeed a great person.  He profited from the slave labors at first during the war, but his good deeds later on truly propelled him across tangilbe material possessions and towards a much more intangible reward: freedom and life.  I find it admirable of how much a human being could be so generous to over 1100 people.  The guy practically risked his life and all that had to save one more person--someone's brother, sister, mom, dad, grandpa, grandma, aunt, uncle, friend, etc.  It's mind-blowing who would do that, but heart-breaking to see someone else get killed and not do something about it.

But what happens when one is powerless to do anything about a certain situation such as watching your loved ones getting ready to be executed?  As suggested in the movie, if one does what he or she is asked to do, then there would be no problems, right?  Then why is it justifiable to point a gun at someone and shoot him or her without any appropriate reason?  Perhaps it's the mind's psyche of being overly conditioned with the same activities that people become so consumed by that they never stop for a minute to actually care.  Standing up for one self is hard.  This is especially true when the physical barrier holding someone back is some weapon.  I guess when you truely love someone, you risk your own life for them--not caring if you die or not.  As in Schindler's case, it looks like he loved humanity immensely.

A thing that stuck out in the movie was Schindler's gratitude.  Having gratitude isn't something that is being ostentatiously flaunted around for good show, but it's an innate way of how people show appreciation and care for others.  It seems that the little things in life are never addressed properly.  A "thank you" here might make's someone's day.  A "hi" there breaks the ice for a follow-up in acquaintenceship.  Simply put, gratitude encompasses the way people interract with each other in a much acknowledgeable sphere of humanity.  It is something so small, yet so great and suggestive to be made unimportant because nothing hurts more than being unacknowledged.

The movie was a masterpiece--a spellbinding gem.