The UN, Bosnia, Rape, and Jolie

A couple of months ago I had heard that Angelina Jolie was preparing to film a new movie in the Balkans. The movie was to be about a love story between a Bosnian women and a Serbian man set in Bosnia during the Balkan War. The filming was planned to be in Bosnia and in Hungary. I would see some segments about Jolie and the movie scenes and such on the local news. I don’t know a lick of the Serbian language , but it was apparently positive in the reports. Incidentally, I have dined at a restaurant here called the Old Penguin that has been favored by Brad Pitt, and from the photos of him there, he had a nice time. Oh yes, the food and service was wonderful. So if you are coming to Serbia, I recommend this restaurant to all.

Back to the point, Jolie chose Bosnian actress Zana Marjanovic for the role in the film. Another goal for this venture was for a regional education center in Sarajevo for the returning Bosnians who had escaped the war. But the basics is this: A Bosnian woman and a Serbian man were in love prior to the war, then during the war the lovers find each other again as Bosnian detainee, and a Serbian guard of the camp.

Now, today, we have a whole new controversy. Because of erroneous reports by Bosnian news people, there is speculation and rumors that this is a rape love story. If one thinks critically how the AP reports it one would think the MOVIE caused the controversy, when it was the news agency that did:

The movie caused controversy in Bosnia when local media reported rumours that the film was the story of a Muslim rape victim who falls in love with her Serb attacker.

Women victims' associations complained about the reported content and in mid-October the Bosnian authorities suspended Jolie's filming permit.

It was quickly reinstated after Jolie sent the authorities a copy of the script which her Bosnian production company says does not include any rape love story.

Here we are in December 1, 2010 and now the yahoo headlines are screaming: “Bosnian Rape Victims Protest Angelina Jolie Movie in Letter to U.N.”, the article goes on to say that the Bosnian Women Rape Victims are calling Jolie ‘ignorant’.

Why should Jolie be concerned about a group of people that the movie is NOT about? Well because just like any WWII movie, you must include sensitivity to any victim even loosely associated with the time period covered, even if the sensitivity is just a footnote. You can’t have a WWII movie without the ‘Jews being victims’, or if set in the Pacific theatre, the Japanese being ‘sneaky ruthless bastards’. Why can’t people who produce a movie just tell the story they wish to tell, without having to bend to the pressure of political groups?

Just like Cameron was vilified by so many for his fantasy film Avatar, evidently he was not sensitive to some particular demographic. He was accused of brainwashing, and mind programming and all manners of evils. Instead of letting the customers or viewers of movies tell how they liked or disliked a movie, we have political groups disrupt what we the people want to see. If I like a movie I tell people and they go watch it. Because I enjoyed the movie, Avatar, so much, I told people. Five people who don’t normally spend money on the theatre tickets did go buy tickets and watched the movie. That is how a movie producer should evaluate the success of the movie. If a political group decides before the movie is filmed or released, that it is in some way bad, and they succeed in halting the filming or release, that denies us, we the people, from our choice in financially supporting or not supporting a film or producer.

Now that those news people in Bosnia have started a rumor and used media to stop the filming of this Jolie movie, the customers including those victims, who would not have had been harmed by this film, has had this issue tear into those emotional scars.

Now the economic affects are this: Instead of filming in Bosnia as Jolie would have, she has moved the filming to Hungary. So this group has successfully reduced the financial boon of film crews in Bosnia and sent them to Hungary.

So what was the endgame here? Like my daddy used to say, “There is no such thing as an accident. There are only acts of carelessness and acts of God. So this ‘rape love story’ story was not an accident, there was a goal afoot. Those local news people put that story out there with an intent, as it was not just one reporter.

Now the results are that Jolie is under scrutiny, her film is under scrutiny, and her screenplay is now viewable by all kinds of people in Bosnia who can now pick apart all aspects of the film, and who is not sworn to the safety of the copyright content.

Was it the goal of those news people to provoke the anti-Serbian sentiment? Is this to introduce an idea that all Serbian men are rapists? Just like the endgame played in America, that all German men were Nazis and the whole German country was guilty of genocide? Is this the endgame? Looking at the comments on the Yahoo story about Jolie’s new movie, it appears to be the case. Or was the endgame to set more sanctions against Serbia. The results are infighting among those who read the story. The results are also showing some serious lack in reading skills among those who commented. Or was this a testing to see how many will proclaim that they too, were ‘rape victims and that no one else understands’.

Don’t you want to choose what movie you are going to watch? I do. When this movie gets released, I will definitely see it, and I will comment on what IS in the movie, not on the political crap not in it.