My So-Called Enemy Analysis

After watching “My so-called Enemy” it gave me insight into lives of others who struggle constantly with everyday life. This film shows the constant battles between the Palestinians and Israeli’s and how they’re two cultures are significantly different. The building bridges program offers a place of tolerance, where the girls thoughts and feelings are heard and allows them to take a step closer to “building a bridge” towards peace. It is not to make them come to an agreement or develop a solution but to create a safe environment to be themselves.

The daily bombings and attacks instill a sense of fear in the people and make them wonder if they’re ever truly safe. This film allowed me to examine my own life and look at it from a different perspective. I constantly find myself complaining about miniscule things that in the scheme of things aren’t even that bad. I feel in a way that I’m blind to the

world around me and realize that many other people have it worse then I do. And I feel this seems almost unfair. I wonder what these people have done or why they are the ones targeted. It made me realize that people are living in constant fear and are unable to have a sense of freedom. It has taught me that people have a tendency to take advantage of what they have. Little things such as being able to travel from place to place freely or having your own opinion are taken for granted. For most people, we don’t even think about these actions because they are so innate to us, but then I begin to examine countries that are suffering and I realize how grateful I should be for what I have. A part of the film that shocked me was in one of the girl’s villages there was a physical wall inhibiting them to leave their village. I began to think about all the opportunities I have and how privileged I am to be able to have control of my own life.
This film also made me think about stereotypes.

When two groups of people are in constant battle with other, people begin to assume things about the other group of people. Humans tend to make assumptions about other people without ever really knowing them. However, my so-called enemy is a clear depiction that not everyone is how you picture them to be. And in reality you can befriend someone you would never think you would. This film touches on the question of what does it mean to be human. To me, what it means to be human is to persevere. In a time where you feel like your world is ending, or everything your working towards seems to just fall short, that the world isn’t over. We as humans have the ability to pick ourselves back up, work harder and change the world around us. Although we may feel we are just one person and we don’t have the power to make an impact, this isn’t true. This film shows that, that by coming together we have the power to break the stereotypes and create a sense of peace and serenity that we never thought could be

achieved.