people forget

I’m tired tonight. For many reasons.

I decided to watch one of Lionel Rogosin‘s films on The Criterion Channel and chose “Out” since it’s only 25 minutes long. What a 25 minutes! Made in 1957, this film is a “docuficiton” made for the United Nations and chronicles the plight of Hungarian refugees fleeing to Austria in the aftermath of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

Because it’s very intense and relatable in some ways, I realized this would be an excellent time to create something today so I got out my sketchbook. The man depicted is a refugee who had been in the camp for 5 years. I pulled this quote from him:

“After a while in the outside world, people begin to forget the sympathy.”

It’s true. Comfort and complacency and frankly, a lack of courage do that.

I learned in this film that 200,000 Hungarians fled their homeland during this time.

I can’t decide what’s worse: Power and corruption or people who stand by and watch it all happen.

The film is worth seeing if only as a reminder that history repeats itself. With that in mind, maybe we can change the present and our future.

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A Blessing

May you never lose your sympathy, dear reader.