Battle in Seattle

Coming home from school today I was listening to Democracy Now and they were dicussing the film "Battle in Seattle" which comes out tomorrow (Sept. 19th). It caught my attention because the WTO protests were something I'll never forget. I was in 9th grade I believe and was outside of the downtown area but was glued to the papers and the news for those days that the protests went on. It is such an interesting lesson about human nature. It is natural for humans to gather together in a cause and "fight" for what you believe in. I'm all about organizing together to make this world a better place...but this particular event was supposed to be peaceful. No violence was a goal of both protesters and the police department. What is also natuarl for humans is to take advantage of situations and for things to get out of control. An organized, peaceful protest turned into a riot, a full on riot. One where people who weren't even protesting took advantage of the hectic/chaotic moment to rob downtown stores, break windows, hurt people and so on. Eventually this was not just a downtown Seattle concern, but an emergency that the National Guard had to step in and address. The pictures and scenes of the WTO riots will be forever etched in my mind.

This movie has not release date for Utah theaters, so sadly I won't get a chance to see it for awhile. I look forward to hearing reviews and what others have to say. They have quite the cast and I'd like to think this movie was handled in an honest/appropriate way. Check it out.