When I was attending college in Michigan in the 1990s, I was a member of a student committee at the residence hall, and one of my jobs was to procure and add movies to a library of videos that student residents could check out. I had free rein on how to get the movies, and my approach was to get suggestions from students in the dormitory, then narrow them down to a list that residents could vote on.
But there was one movie I added to the library anyway because I felt people should see the film, and that film was Schindler's List.
I learned about the Holocaust when I was in elementary school, and while I've seen countless pictures and film clips of the atrocities, it still took me a short while to prepare myself mentally and emotionally to see Schindler's List for the first time. After I saw the Steve Spielberg award-winning film, I thought it was so good, I had this unusual desire to see it again despite the subject matter.
I read Night by Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel about his experiences during the German Nazi occupation, and some of the haunting images in Schindler's List were precisely how I had imagined them from Wiesel's book.
I have been mistreated and even physically assaulted by strangers because of my ethnicity. So I always empathize and identify with all groups who have been socially marginalized.
In this day and age, it is unbelievable how despicable and disgusting people can be. But it is dangerous when they persistently believe in ridiculous conspiracy theories and prefer to live in denial.
Right-wing extremists are a cancer to humanity. Ignorance, naiveté, and low education only prolong and exacerbate the disease.
I've seen several movies in school, a few of which I thought had questionable educational value, but I think seeing Schindler's List should be a requirement in schools, although the nudity and violence may keep it from being shown in certain institutions. Still, I believe everyone should watch Schindler's List at least once to remind them about the realities of far-right extremism and the Holocaust.
It's been over 77 years since the end of WWII. Yet, we have witnessed so much evil in recent years, and empathy and compassion continue to be noticeably absent at times. Nonetheless, many young kids these days are surprisingly so mature and intelligent, and it is these younglings and seeing random acts of kindness towards strangers that help restore my faith in humanity.
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