The Square-Madison

The Square was a very inspiring film, one that draws the viewers in as if they were in it. This film is about Egypt protesting against a dictatorship type government with its first battle against Egypt's leader Mubarak. The first time that the people of Egypt couldn't be silenced and had reclaimed there freedom was after Mubarak stepped down on February eleventh of 2011. This was just the beginning of their revolution. The Egyptians next protests were against it's own military and Muslim Brotherhood. The people of Egypt who filled the streets to fight for their rights of freedom and dignity used many different mechanisms to do so, the main one being there voice, "We will fill the world with our poetry. Our words will stand in the square. And they will be like bullets in this world." These people who filled the square knew that they were possibly going to die but they didn't care because they said, "It's for the future." The Tahir square was an ongoing battle for over two years and by the fall of the last so-called leader...many Egyptians still weren't quite sure if this is how the revolution is supposed to end.

Ahmed said, "Revolution means total change, a government accountable to the people," and they still didn't have that by the end of their film. 

A lot of the attacks were filmed showing very ugly and graphic footage of Egypt's military shooting, bombing, gassing, stoning and even running their civilians over with tanks. All of this tragedy was covered and posted on the media to inform and make Egypt's ware-abouts globally known. Media played a big role in getting Egypt's conditions global. 

It's hard to find examples that expose weaknesses in the way this film was portrayed, because I have never really taken the time to be this aware of a real protest and cause. I thought this was amazing, in that it educated me to see people trying to move in protest and also inspiring to see people fight for freedom. There are so many strengths to this film, mostly, it was very personable. The dialogue that the viewer gets between families, my favorite example of this, was the scene where it was a conversation between Khalid, Magdy and his son. Khalid was questioning Magdy's son's stance in the revolution and whether or not he thought it was the right one. This scene was very intense, making viewers want to know these same questions Khalid was proposing. There are many powerful quotes and saying's throughout this film too that help establish the different themes that come from this revolution. 

Here are some of the quotes and sayings that I took away from this film and established what I thought the main ideas/themes were during this revolution:

"Tahir Square is a symbol, if you have control of it, you have power. It pulls people to you." To me this quote states that for the protester's, the square was a place where they felt they had some power and it was a place to get the attention they were begging for to start their revolution. 

"The battle just isn't in the rocks and the stones, it's in the images, the stories." This quote I thought was a major theme throughout this film because that's exactly what this film exposes, images and stories of the people who lived through this revolution.

One of the hardest battles the people of Egypt had to face was against their own government, the army wanted to divide the Muslims and the Christians because their battle tactic was to "divide and conquer... which turned into a war in the square, not a revolution." 

"Our army is killing us, they can't be Egyptians, they forgot Egypt."

June 30th 2013

Ahmed, "revolution is not simply replacing a regime. Revolution is a culture of people. We've introduced a culture of protesting. Revolution's weapon is our voices." I think Ahmed's words our wise and true in the last couple of things he says during this film. The Square portrays the voices of Egyptian civilians in order to spread there stories of this movement.

Egypt, a highly populated country, had militant attacks this year in October in North Sinai that was described as the deadliest since Muslim Brotherhood President Morsi’s overthrow in July of 2013. The news in Egypt doesn’t stop there. Recently, journalists trying to report on the country have been the targets of harassment and abuse. A decision of seventeen editors to give President Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi’s government their unconditional support, has caused much criticism and outcry. More than five-hundred journalists have used online media to communicate their opposition to this decision. Media personnel are among the leading victims of these authoritarian policies with independent journalists/reporters prompting arrests. The hopes for families and those sentenced will rest in the political consideration of the political “popular” vote. Will the President interfere with the judicial system? The President will have to issue a pardon, which is the only way to find an appropriate solution. The power of this social media outcry has sparked international outrage with human rights and media groups. Social Media plays many roles with giving voice to defiance. Ai Weiwei, known as  a”fearless” tweeter, understands the effects of social media and has raised political awareness on freedom of speech in China. Although he has suffered brain injury and legal battles, his virtual political stance has organized volunteers, exposed names of those killed in earthquakes, and delivered his opinion of the Chinese government that resembles that of his middle finger. The internet can’t be contained, it can’t be controlled (yet), and as long as that is the case, freedom will win.

I really enjoyed this film.