The Lost Boys Of Sudan Critical Thinking Example

Overview

The Lost Boys of Sudan documentary is a film that offers insight into the suffering of young boys and girls fleeing from Sudan’s civil war. The documentary features the story of two young boys, Santino Majok Chuor and Peter Nyarol Dut, who became orphans and later refugees as a result of the war. The film mainly revolves around political violence as a result of poor governance, the plight of refugees, suffering of young children, racism, friendship, cultural differences and social inequalities. The film manages to illustrate the plight of refugees in war-torn Sudan by making a follow-up of the lives of these two boys in a refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya, and later to their lives in the United States following their resettlement there. There are evident connections between the documentary earlier and more recent films on political struggle such as Gandhi (1982), The Killing Fields (1984), and Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013). Unfortunately, Sudan is yet to learn from the blood-shed during its 22-year civil war.

Lessons Learnt

On of the major lessons that I have derived from this film is that war, regardless of its causes, leads to long-term scars to the survivors. In the documentary, children were the main victims of the war consequences. Although they were not party to either of the conflicting sides, their suffering continues long after they have left their war-torn country. It is unfortunate that such a war was started for selfish religious and political reasons, which led to the suffering of masses. Humanitarian efforts to ease the suffering of war victims is not enough; the international community should intervene in ending political conflicts that can result in war. From the documentary, I have also learnt the importance of globalizing politics beyond the national or regional borders. Refugees from Sudan benefited greatly by the outreach of other countries including Kenya, Ethiopia and the United States. The moves made by these countries helped to ease the pain that the lost boys of Sudan were undergoing. With such cooperation at times of conflict, the world can achieve great strides in ending human suffering.

Connections with other Films and Readings

The ideas and concepts that are evident in this documentary have some connection with other films in the past, as well as more recent ones. One of these films is The Killing Fields. In both films, there is a clear illustration of the bloodshed resulting from civil wars; in Sudan, the central government wiped out villages from the Dinka community while The Killing Fields illustrates the murder of millions of Cambodian citizens during the Pol Pot regime. Furthermore, both films insist on the importance of friendship in getting through war experiences. The camaraderie of Santino and Peter helps them in dealing with the hardships of their journey from Sudan, as well as to ease their fears and anxieties when in the United States. Similarly, the friendship between Pran and Schanberg helped them to deal with the challenges presented by the civil war in Cambodia.
On the other hand, there is a connection among Lost Boys of Sudan, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom and Gandhi. In the three films, there is a depiction of the struggle to attain social equality. In Lost Boys of Sudan, Santino and Peter try to earn their place in the society when they travel to the US. They constantly face negative reception by Americans, including African-Americans, for their darker skin color. In Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela and other South Africans are involved in the fight against apartheid, and the representation of Africans. Lastly, in Gandhi, Gandhi fights for equal racial equality in South Africa, and later on fights for India’s freedom, and less religious conflicts.

Changes in My Ideologies

The film changed my view of the “American dream”. Prior to watching the documentary, I held the view that people who migrate from developing countries to the US have an easy time here, given the differences in civilization and development. However, I have come to understand that this is not always the case, as these people have to adapt to the cultural and social norms in the US. Particularly, immigrants have to learn English in order to effectively adapt into the American life. Moreover, although their economic statuses may be significantly improved once they arrive in the US, they are faced with the reality of relative poverty, since they do not perform as well as the incumbent Americans. Healing the wounds from their bitter pasts may therefore take longer than they expect.

Current Situation in Sudan

Unfortunately, Sudan has not learnt from the civil war despite South Sudan gaining its freedom in 2011. South Sudan gained freedom in July 2011 following a referendum held to decide on whether the country should secede. Since the formation of the new nation, there has been infighting over political leadership and the control of resources (BBC para. 1-4). Since 2013, fighting between the supporters of President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar, his former vice, has resulted in the displacement of over one million people (Dumo para. 3). This infighting has curtailed the economic growth of the country despite its high resource endowment (BBC para. 21). As things currently stand, the country did not learn from the past civil war. The international community should intervene in order to avoid a repeat of the civil war.

Works Cited

BBC. "South Sudan profile - Overview." BBC. 22 January 2015. Web. 25 April 2015.
Dumo, Denis. "Fighting in South Sudan's Upper Nile drags into third day." Reuters. 23 April 2015. Web. 25 April 2015.
Gandhi. Dir. Richard Attenborough. Perf. Candice Bergen, et al. Goldcrest Films; International Film Investors; National Film Development Corporation of India, 1982. DVD.
Lost Boys of Sudan. Dirs. Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk. Perf. Santino Majok Chuor, Jarrid Geduld and Peter Kon Dut. POV, 2003. DVD.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Dir. Justin Chadwick. Perf. Idris Elba and Naomie Harris. Pathé; Videovision Entertainment; Distant Horizon; Origin Pictures, 2013. DVD.
The Killing Fields. Dir. Roland Joffé. Perf. Sam Waterston, et al. Goldcrest; Enigma Productions, 1984. DVD.