Borat might be the worst movie I’ve ever seen

Now, I can’t honestly say that “Borat” was the worst movie ever because, well, I didn’t get through the entire movie. By the 40th intolerable minute of it, I walked out.

Let me say up front – I am no prude. And while I am sensitive to racism and sexism in pop culture, I am not so sensitive that I can’t enjoy it. I enjoyed the South Park movie and laughed very, very hard through many of the songs. I thought ‘Team America: World Police’ was funny, including the final monologue. I think Eminem is talented.

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Fear

I interviewed Colombian journalist Hollman Morris in Toronto a few days ago. My favourite thing that Hollman said was the following:

For me, there are two kinds of fear. Whenever you write or present, you face the fear of the intolerant. This is a fear we always deal with. But much worse is the fear you face when you get to a part of the country after a massacre, a place where you, the journalist, are the only person who has a chance to break impunity and get these people’s story out, to shine this tiny light and break the official history of lies. The people put all their hope in the journalist. You get there – and you feel this fear. You feel so small before the hopes of these people. And this fear makes you feel responsibility.

This is definitely a fear I can relate to. Here’s the rest of the interview, that deals with context in Colombia, Hollman’s program CONTRAVIA, and the trajectory of journalism.

Views of the Other Colombia

Hollman Morris is a veteran journalist from Colombia who visited Canada to receive the International Press Freedom Award from the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). His career spans more than two decades, and includes his role as producer of the weekly program CONTRAVIA, correspondent for the channel RCN, editor of the Peace and Human Rights Section of El Espectador, (one of Colombia’s two most prominent newspapers) and founder of the university journal El Universitario.

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When will they learn…

When will Palestinians learn that the Israeli military has no problem killing civilians and that the press will report those killings as the civilians’ fault? Oh, wait, I suppose the Palestinians already know that. The knowledge, unfortunately, doesn’t give them any protection. Nor does it get them any respect when Israel murders their civilians – a 40-year old woman in this case. This is what evacuation of Gaza is, evidently.