A Gut Reaction: A Response to "100 Days"

Moving on with my academic safari, I recently viewed a film called "100 Days," which depicts the dramatic conflict of the Rwandan people during the infamous genocide. It follows two Tutsi families specifically, as they struggle to survive a massacre. I will not describe the film's plot in great detail, but I would like to respond to the film, since it had a profound effect on my perception of people.
For a while now I have been examining the aspects of colonialism and neocolonialism in Africa, and so far I have witnessed mostly the violence of the European, as well as the control they and their minions wield against the colonized. However, the beauty of this film is that it reveals the evil all men are capable of, regardless of nationality or skin color. While the corruption of the instated government--both African or otherwise--is common knowledge, "100 Days" re-examines the prejudices that breed violence. For example, the Hutu leader makes many justifying and fervent speeches about the necessity to wipe out the Tutsi, and makes no attempt to disguise his intent to genocide them. This creates a scenario that forces the viewer to forget about his perceptions of black and white, and examine the innate power of a mob mentality, and a people under distress. The poverty of the Hutu and their difficulty of survival under the corrupt rule of their leaders, the Hutu seem to turn against their long-familiar enemy, finding it easier to blame them than question the infrastructure. Human wickedness, I realized, is about scapegoating, controlling, and suppressing those who threaten us. Whether this threat is real or imagined seems to be the justifying factor, or "self-defense," as the legalese claims. However, threat comes also in the form of jealousy, and of the verbal tendrils the leaders use to tap the brains of their people.
I do not for a moment want to overlook the important colonialist themes in the film, since they are profound and numerous, but they are also the most obvious thing, and I'm sure anyone who's seen the movie would have identified them themselves. What I hope to offer is a new perspective, or at least verbalize something that's been felt but not expressed.