It took me seven years and a countdown to the fifteenth anniversary of Seattle’s WTO protests to watch it, and to my (pleasant) surprise, the entire piece managed to grasp my attention.
Given the current environment of protests, this was indeed an opportune time to view the piece.
The world was busy losing its minds last month when wildfires in Eastern Washington began destroying everything in sight, and with it, a new blaze began wreaking havoc on my social network. “Links! Lectures! Laments!” The discourse surrounding the shooting of an unarmed black man in Missouri was chaotic to say the least and trying to make sense of all the ‘outrage’ on Facebook resembled hearing the high-pitched noise Sharpies make when used on cardboard picket signs. It was all over the place.
This made me question quite a lot. Why don’t I feel angry enough to tweet? Am I beyond numb from the constant bombardment of injustice and atrocity? Have I simply turned ‘hard-hearted’? Considering that I do reside in Seattle which is the home of “the 12th Man” it doesn’t do much to alleviate my anger. Seattle is known for quite literally shaking the ground when angry at opposing football teams, and to make matters worse, when one mixes these sentiments with corporate greed and power, it leaves one with quite the concoction. A concoction that I would rather not imagine.
When it comes to other Seattle stereotypes, I seem to perfectly fit the bill, considering that I consumed organic produce, mourned for all the closed bookstores, and reveled in the rain and the mountains.
Few of us recall goggle-eyed youngsters eagerly closing in on a stuntman during the previous decade while he practiced the art of martial arts with a group of onlookers seated on the floor. Everyone was already quite familiar with the superhero figure with the shaved head. How could they not be? This was Bruce Lee, popularly known as the Dragon. Those of us born towards the middle of the nineties never had an opportunity to see the man who later became one of the most iconic martial artists and actors of the world, alive, but thanks to some ingenious footage and great filming the legend was in his prime, we have endless video snippets of his time to watch. Starting from sitcoms such as The Green Hornet to Dragons Forever, Bruce Lee truly was everywhere.
When he died far too soon at the age of 32, the world was left wanting more. From 1973 to 1978, a slew of movies were released featuring Bruce Lee, but none seemed to quench the thirst that fans were engrained with. He left behind some of the most iconic figures in American pop culture and the beauty of that is, that they will live on for as long as mankind exists, more so now that technology has gone through such an extensive phase of advancement. During my research, I stumbled across a documentary titled “Waru” which goes into detail on multi-faceted aspects of Southeast culture and art forms, and their means of expression. Waru has an array of stories, or rather different interpretations of the same subject united under one single title.
At first, we see a documentary type of opening regarding the GATT the agreement on trade and tariffs that 23 nations signed in 1947. The GATT was formed with the intention “to liberalize and expand world trade stability was the key.” However, as the GATT transitioned into the World Trade Organization, and expanded to 150 member nations, control of 90% of the trade also came under the WTO, which began functioning without any kind of governance or supervision.
This brings up an argument of how the elite are able to freely cross borders without restraints, while the supervisors of the WTO are distrusted and demand that companies begin to show accountability. Some may say there are companies who are getting ‘away with murder’ but where would the resources to stand up against such a corporation come from? Hence, activists argue that civil disobedience is the only way to highlight the injustice.
Those planning to watch the movie might think that Battle in Seattle is an answer to how the fight against the empire is to be fought. Well, for a movie that is only 99 minutes long, it does a superb job of presenting powerful ideas in a subtle manner.
For its 90-minute run, Battle in Seattle tries to do too much in one go which is a fault in itself. The characters are too one-dimensional, unlike the concepts that it try to portray. Even better it fails to deliver on what the mayor of Seattle and the governor of Washington should have looked like – sketchy attempts of Paul Schell and Gary Locke make this sore. The miniseries The Wire offers the canvas that this story deserves.
Now the better seat it embraces complex moral ambiguities. Actor Martin Henderson who somewhat resembles Jesus makes a good impression on the protestors. Even so, Battle in Seattle reveals how irresponsible and dangerous players can infiltrate a nonviolent protest that is even the most organized. These players are known as anarchists.
Amid the coverage and their attempts to attract attention, two remarkable people Rade Serbedzija and Isaach De Bankole add to this rather frantic noise without any means of making themselves heard.
Officer Dale played by Woody Harrelson is initially reluctant to follow the orders imposed on him by his superiors. His wife, Ella, is buying baby clothes at a department store that sells sweatshop products. It perfectly outlines the horrors of police violence through the lens of a misbehaving child. This dangerous pregnant woman part of the story can feel a tad melodramatic. However, it is my firm conviction that it serves the purpose wonderfully. It indeed makes everyone within earshot remember how dire the consequences of neglecting future generations will be.
A bold protester named Lou once said, “Protests get me excited and depressed at the same time”. This single phrase succeeds in summarizing the film in a nutshell. The phrase captures with simplicity the duality of humanity’s nature. Seattle’s Complicated Passions is ahistorical and unrestrained. It involves the discussion around the fundamental controversy over what happened in Seattle and ever since the city has been the locus of confrontation with globalization.
Moreover, we are also quite literally on the brink of the United States’ Pacific coastline. The spirit of explorers who traveled in a westward direction is the same spirit that defines who we are. We adore and wish to protect, the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, what’s left of it I must say. A Seattle protestor put it best, If you don’t stand up and fight, everything that’s beautiful is gonna be taken away, and that is the exact opposite of what we stand for.
Let us start with a more cynical viewpoint. It is entirely plausible that Northwesterners find comfort in being distanced from the nation’s power centers as an opportunity to criticize naive self-righteous teens having a chip on their shoulder, and in this case, distrusting and resenting anything that resembles ‘power’. Or it could be that out here, we value our independence a little bit too much. Any task will be done regardless of how much override or interference is present, which is an absolute must. However, any change that we cannot control, will be resisted with the utmost vigor.
It filled me with bliss as I watched the delicate Douglas Fir floating between the Pacific and the Cascade ranges. I also had a sneaking conviction that I have always lacked strength of faith. I was taught to decipher nature as one of God’s eloquent languages through the Psalms. To put it kindly, I get sick to my stomach when I watch run-away commerce make practical monstrosities. It is impossible for me to reconcile Christ’s appeal to the economically weaker with what some people call the one percent problems. As we prayerfully hope for others to find new ways to approach the issue G-d gave us, we dishonor our descendants and G-d themself.
I experienced a similar rhetoric when, as a young lad, I participated in the sacking of the school administration for their dismissal of a mentor alongside my fellow colleagues. We simply presumed that the cut-backing was the result of the school’s decision. What was the core education or finance?
An administrator with a stone face and no words tries to gain a glimpse at what the other side of the argument offers. We argue in vain and leave in anger, grabbing onto the feeble straws of our debates. We made initial plans with the goal in mind, only to later and more angrily discuss how to take our arguments up a few notches.
I find it terrifying to consider what potentially irreversible damage we may have suffered if we acted upon such impulses. Months down the line, at a more subdued corner table in a pub, a friend pulled me aside and divulged information regarding how one of our supposedly idealized mentors, the person we chose to victimize, had taken advantage of our trust. But no, I was missing the most vital piece of the puzzle.
Seek justice does not sound as heroic when you add love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. My friend’s request indeed had no smirk and self righteous explanations. It was simply ignorance and chaos. The admin was sane, unlike the rest of us.
Turns out, I was a lot more naive than I gave myself credit for. I was humbled humiliated is the better word here. It’s these very feelings that explain my reluctance to join marches and carry picket signs. As much as it pains me to say, those emotions returned when I watched Kelly Reichardt’s latest film.
The film, Night Moves is about the three environmentalists in the Pacific Northwest, carrying forward their beliefs to a level that puts them on the extreme. And as the saying goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions this protest ends up hurting them more than helping them. However, unlike Battle in Seattle, Night Moves provides the viewers with no glorification. Rather, Night Moves echoes the message of the Scripture, ‘those who would pull up weeds may well uproot the wheat too.
When looking back, these films won’t be considered remarkable films or meet the standards of a political agenda. However, they provide inspiration for many conversations. Art has the power to adhere to a certain theme as compared to art provoking one to a state of openness. This is the reason why art stands out from other forms of content.
The project of these films stands true to their phrase. It doesn’t matter who is leading the battle, if an individual is on a quest for justice it is bound to do more harm without humility and mercy. One ought to keep in mind that in God’s master plan, no one truly gets away with anything.
Jesus, however, was an outlier to set examples. Instead, he chose to respond with irresistible love.
Inspiring as it is, the Northwest fervor to instill global consumer conscientiousness and social equity perfectly coheres with the motivation of evangelical Christians to spread the word and convert non-believers. A single phrase from Madeleine L’Engle may resonate deeply with both evangelists and protestors in equal measure.
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