graded+as+a+5

1/ “God Grew Tired of Us”, Christopher Quinn, 2006. 2/ This film was about the “lost boys” of Sudan. They were forced out of their country by a Muslim regime who threatened to kill them if they stayed. These boys lived in poverty for years. They created their own social systems and lived by their own rules in camps in countries neighboring Sudan. They first marched hundreds of miles to Ethiopia and then had to relocate when the government toppled after three years to Kenya. Kenya was another couple hundred miles and they had to risk cutting through part of Sudan. The United States government //graciously// allowed a few of the Sudanese “Lost Boys” to relocate to the states and provided them with housing and a program to get them jobs. This film was all about their struggle to find their place in the US and how to help their other lost brothers back home. 3/ I felt that this movie drew out many cultural dynamics. The “lost boys” would never have been “lost” if it weren’t for the Sudanese government and their religious extremist views. But at the same time, the Lost Boys relied on the older boys to help raise the youngest and provide for them. I also feel that it pulls on the dynamic of gender. There were no girls to be found anywhere and therefore upset their social norms and had the males taking care of the youth. 4/ I found John Bul Dao’s story the most compelling. He relocated and was possibly the most successful of the bunch. He ended up working 3jobs just so that he could send money back home and he also decided to put off furthering his education so that he could reunite with his mother and his sister. I thought that it was interesting how the Lost Boys thought that all Americans were unfriendly as well. It seems like a culture shock that I would not have predicted but it absolutely makes sense. Sometimes people are so driven to be on top that they don’t step back and look at the whole picture. 5/ The only part of the film that I didn’t like was when John and his mother were reunited in the airport. This is because John seemed embarrassed and his mother’s reactions seemed “forced” for the cameras. 6/ This film strongly suggests that Americans help and help persuade politicians to donate money to make living conditions more bearable for the brothers in Kakuma. It shows John going to conferences and seminar to tell the Lost Boys’ story and to seem assistance in any way possible. A very admirable thing to do. 7/ This film raised a few questions: Are we doing anything as a nation to help these children since 2006? How are the other Lost Boys that relocated here making out? Is it possible that some of them are closer that I think? like perhaps in Albany?