In Class - Black Robe

The movie Black Robe did a geat job of interpreting how a real life situation would be if two polar-opposite cultures were forced into one society – especially if one came with the motive of influencing an entire society with unknown information; life-altering “hearsay”. This film reminded me of the movie End of the Spear. This is the story of Mincayani, a Waodani tribesman from the jungles of Ecuador. Much like Black Robe, five young missionaries are speared to death by the Waodani in 1956, a series of events unfold to change the lives of not only the slain missionaries' families, but also Mincayani and his people.
Unlike the situation in End of the Spear, I felt like the Jesuits were more or less forcing their religious beliefs on the Algonquins. This is why the tribal people acted to negatively towards the Jesuits. Maybe if the preacher in the boy had earned the right to be heard – through gaining their truest and respect – their response to the message of Jesus would have been presently more clearly. Each side was blind to the perspective of the others. Coming from a completely different place and culture, each group’s concept of life is going to significantly differ. Especially as ignorant Americans, we often just assume everyone else thinks and lives just like us – which is clearly not the case.