I wish that the movie theater at the Hudson Valley Mall would offer move movies beyond the typical, often inane, Hollywood hash. For example, Michael Moore’s latest film, Where to Invade Next, ought to be seen by every American and then discuss. The film offers a tour of several countries’ systems with the purpose to claim their “good ideas” and bring them back to America. It is an eye-opening, jaw-dropping experience.
An interview with a woman reporter from Tunisia makes an essential point. Americans lack curiosity. When Americans think they are the best, they see no reason to look elsewhere in the world. She knows much about America, but most Americans know nothing about Tunisia. For example, Tunisia is a Muslim country that has provided free legal health services to women, including abortion, since the 1970s. Their “Arab Spring” protests removed a brutal dictator. Citizens then demanded and got equal rights for women specifically written in to their constitution. The extreme conservatives who controlled the legislature stepped down to accept the will of the people allowing for more diverse interpretations of their religion. Imagine!
The film will astound you when you see the school lunches in France, education programs in Finland (rated no. 1), workers in Italy and Germany, prisons in Norway and the difference women bankers in Iceland made during the 2008 banking collapse.
In this region only the theaters in Rhinebeck, Woodstock and Rosendale have served the public by showing this film. Residents now will have to seek other means to see it. I suggest signing up online to these alternate theaters for movies that can be intellectually stimulating and emotionally entertaining. Vacant entertainment can be appealing at times, but Americans need to have more curiosity about the world.
Checko Miller, Rosendale
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