Tending the weeds

Movie: The Constant Gardener. I watched this a few weeks ago and wanted to make sure I mentioned it because I thought it was extremely well done. So much so that, when it ended, my first thought was “somebody give that movie an award!” Last week at the Golden Globes, star Rachel Weisz won the award for best supporting actress. The upcoming Bafta awards nominations were announced last week and this film tops the list with ten. Based on a novel by John LeCarré, it’s a “socially conscious spy yarn” about a humanitarian cause worker who seeks to expose a pharmaceutical corporation’s exploitation of the poverty stricken and ill in Africa. Though portrayed on a global scale, the parallels to corporations in America wielding too much power struck home. I don’t think this is what our founding fathers had in mind when they set up a democracy for the people, by the people. These days we find our health care, our food and water, and pretty much our entire lives dictated by what will provide the most profits to whatever company we’re at the mercy of. The power and money they have has corrupted so many of them, that our best interests are their last consideration. Another point this movie made was how the scale of world poverty is so immense, it’s overwhelmed us into doing nothing. Instead of focusing on fixing everything at once, we just need to begin.