This is going to sound silly.
This is going to sound stupid at first because what prompted me to write this entry was a movie. It's called V for Vendetta and it honestly made me think more than a movie ever really has. I'd like to think that my reactions, my emotions toward this film stand as a testament to the great things that can be accomplished in the entertainment industry; that maybe it's about more than entertaining. The notion that I can be part of something in this career that doesn't just provide mindless pleasure, a pretty picture and sweet little lines of dialogue but instead initiates thought, questions, real emotions and passion inside of those people that witness it is extremely empowering.
But this isn't about me being an actor. It's about all of us and our future and to put it plainly, I am terrified.
I won't go into specifics about the plot of this movie, because I'd like to think that maybe you'll just go see it for yourself. However, I will tell you that it is about revolution. It is about standing up to injustice and asking the questions that just don't seem to get asked. Even more, it is about doing something to change the world for the better.
Too often do we sit back and relax. We're AMERICANS. We're at the very top of the food chain and there's really nothing and no one that can stop us right now. Except ourselves, that is.
Right now we are coming up on the third anniversary of this war in Iraq. It wasn't supposed to have taken this long but we just keep finding new ways to justify our continued presence there. Undoubtedly, we've done some good. We have helped a lot of people. We've provided freedom for a lot of people. But what is the cost? How many people have died? The thing is, I don't know enough about this all to try and sway anyone's opinion. But that's just the thing. I DON'T KNOW. There are too many things about the tactics we've used in the name of freedom that I just don't understand. There are too many secrets and lies and too many people (including me, quite honestly) that just go right along with it and don't question what's really going on.
Have you ever sat down and really thought about the Patriot Act? Has the government actually taken measures to tap our phones and use constant surveillance on us if they so much as suspect us of being "unpatriotic." Yes. The fact that I am writing this right now and putting it on the internet may very well put me on some blacklist somewhere. Does no one else find this terrifying? We are not in a movie folks. This is the real world we're living in and still these crazy things are happening.
Where does this lead? If we allow ourselves to become complacent to a system that is willing to take away our civil rights, then we deserve to have them taken. In the movie tonight they said something fantastic: the people should not be afraid of their government--the government should be afraid of its people. The citizens of the United States outnumber our government by a ridiculous margin. And yet we allow ouselves to be taken complete advantage of. If you think we have nothing to fear, then you are sorely mistaken.
Do you know what I fear? I fear hate. I fear that the countries of the world that hate us will finally rise up and out of sheer loathing for everything we've done in our short existence, decide to fight back. I'm afraid they will hit us hard. I'm also afraid to have nearly three more years left with a president who no longer has to worry about reelection and can instead do whatever he wants, no matter how rash. We've already seen this administration make some very rash decisions without much support at all and there are surely countless things that we will not soon know about that they have set into motion.
How much can we trust without questioning? I don't blame President Bush for this. I blame the majority of this country for blindly following what every president we've had in recent years has said. There was a time when the youth of America stood up for themselves and for the country they lived in. There was a time when they didn't just sit in a cafeteria or coffee house or dorm room and complain. They did something. Whether or not it provided immediate results did not matter because at least they stood up for themselves; for common sense.
I am terrified. And thus, Hollywood has done something right.
I want to stand up. | 
