OLD WOUNDS ...BOOK AND MOVIE ABOUT KHMER ROUGE ... THERAPY OR CASH COW

Books About Khmer Rouge

It has been more than 40 years that a large scale atrocity took place in Cambodia under the hands of communist regime lead by Pol Pot and many others who are still in power, and continue to use Khmer Rouge culture to intimidate Cambodians.

“Much had been documented, and much had already been written.”

During the last 40 years or so, the atrocity committed by Khmer Rouge has been written and documented hundreds of times over. The world has become fully aware of what happened, and so have Cambodians. As time passes, victims of this large scale human tragedy have come to term with the past and for the most part, have moved on. They have put the past behind and are looking for their futures and the future of their nation. 

In an interview with ABC Good Morning America, Angelina stated that while shooting the movie " First They Kill My Father" in Cambodia, she was surprised by the easy going attitude of most Cambodians despite having lived through the tragedy. This should not at all be a surprise; it should be a testimony that healing had already been taken place and people are beginning to work toward the future. Bringing up this darkest moment of Khmer history is amount to opening up old wounds, and for what?

Hun Sen Issued Threat

Now a day, references to this dark era of Cambodia are often brought up for either political or financial gain. Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen uses this to put fears into people to vote for his party. Vietnamese government tries to keep this in the mind of people so it can continue to demand gratitude from Cambodians, to justify the invasion, and to redirect Cambodians from realizing the true Vietnamese intention, which is to dominate or colonize the former Indochina which includes Laos and Cambodia.  

Vietnamese Monuments in
Cambodia

As ways to remind Cambodians and to keep Cambodians from moving forward, the Vietnamese, with the help of their puppet government of Cambodia, has built monuments tagged as friendship monuments, all over Cambodia. Through threats and briberies (sticks and carrots), Vietnam has been able to control most of the leadership of its puppet Phnom Penh regime of Hun Sen.  

Hun Sen and his clan are not the only people who are trying to benefit from this dark history of Cambodia; others are trying also. Stories about the atrocity and human sufferings under Khmer Rouge continue to pop up now and then, each claiming that they must be told to help Cambodian victims to cope, although the same stories had been told and documented hundreds of times over, and despite the fact that most Cambodians had already moved on. 

          

While Hun Sen uses it for political benefits, others are using it for financial gain. Recent surges of stories either in book or multimedia format, for the most part, serve as a "cash cow" rather than a real meaningful therapy for the victims. One must always ask: What is the point, and who are the beneficiaries? Does personal and financial gain play a part of this updated revelation? Will this politically benefit Vietnam and its puppet?

Let's stop the milking!

To really help Cambodia and its people, efforts should be made to show how and why the atrocity took place, who else and what foreign countries were involved in the Killing Field? Most importantly, efforts must be made to uncover the remnant of Khmer Rouge who are still in the government and who continue to intimidate Cambodians ala Khmer Rouge. Simply telling the story just is not enough.

LINK: First They Kill My Father - Movie Review

FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER MOVIE

(to sooth or to re-open old wound)

While many Cambodians and people in the movie industry are busy promoting the movie, "First They Killed My Father," poor Cambodians and Democracy in Cambodia continue to be victimized by many other actions of " First they ..."

The new "THEY" are taking advantage of the distraction created by the movie, to quietly work toward setting up scenes for another movie: "They Finally Succeed Their Quest To Commit a More Gentle But Deadly Killing Of Justice, Freedom, and Democracy (JFD) in Cambodia."

In an interview with ABC Good Morning America, Angelina stated that she was surprised by the easy going attitude of most Cambodians despite having lived through the tragedy. Has she ever thought that may be after some 40 years, the wounds have already been healed and people are beginning to work toward the future?

Despite the good intentions claimed by all parties involved in the making of this movie, I still have my doubts. Is it a good idea to reopen old wounds that had already been healed? Would this project be nothing but a cash cow for some? Would this become an unintentional tool/opportunity for people who would like to see the death of JFD in Cambodia.

Are we going to wake up one morning and see this headline: " They Finally Kill JFD in Cambodia?"

I appreciate what Angelina has done to help Cambodians. However, as important as remembering the history, one must also be mindful about the present, or the history will repeat itself.

I sincerely hope that the movie would miraculously make people aware that what is happening in the Kingdom now is very similar to what the Khmer Rouge (all of them - no exception) were doing in 1975.