It is difficult to even begin to comment on “Monsenor: the Last Days of Archbishop Romero” when I have never experienced anything like the oppression of the El Salvadorian people depicted in this movie. Early on in the movie, one of the women said in passing, “all we want is peace.” I have no frame of reference to understand this statement. Somehow I know that life must be at its absolute worst when every day people disappear, or end up dead on the streets at the hands of the so-called security there to “protect” its people. This movie was absolutely terrifying.

One of Archbishop Romero’s early homilies talks about the few people with all the control and money, and the people who toil and suffer with nothing. One of the interviewed men describes day-laborer income as “one colon for two days work.” That’s US $.002 every other day, not even one penny a day, or even half of that. We’ve spent a lot of time reviewing literature and movies so far this semester that have said $1.25/day is the line drawn by the World Bank – anything less than that is poverty. $.001/day is so much less than that, I am beyond appalled.

It’s really scary to know that a group like ORDEN could have ever existed in real life. Fictional books like Orwell’s 1984 are cited constantly out of fear that the government could have enough power to turn neighbors against neighbors. 1984 is fiction, but what happened in El Salvador was real; people reported their own neighbors to the government and ultimately had them killed for not accepting government rules against organizing.

Many nations have to go through extremely dark days to work out their own system of order. The fact that Archbishop Romero, dozens of clergy and thousands of El Salvadorians had to be brutally murdered to make change happen is terrible, and should not have been required for the people to achieve victory. It’s good to know that in the end, after a 12 year civil war, in 1992 El Salvador realized its vision of democracy. Everyone that died would have been proud to see an end to the suffering.

Text #1: "There were the mothers, wives, and children of those assasinated"

Archbishop Romero's quest to support and back up the underpriveleged and overlooked lower class of El Salvador is truly inspiring. It's one thing to join a movement that is ongoing and popular, however it is entirely different to stand up as one man against the corrupt political and social leaders of El Salvador and not waver when it comes to principle and reason. The movie made me reflect on how little I take for granted and how lucky I am to be able to live in America. While we're unhappy with having to go to class and Sodexo cafateria food there are people across the world that deal with the inability to eat any food or drink any water. I think it's important to shape our perspectives on a global scale so that we can realize the privileges and opportunities afforded to us.

Text #2 "This spiral of violence since we know they have the power to stop it."

Secondly it is unreal how far some people will go to acquire money or social status. People in every country have killed, ruined lives, sold drugs, and orchestrated murders in order to rise in society through the acquisition of currency and/or social and political status. I think it is important that we acknowledge the gravity of this issue and take steps globally to improve not only our economies but also our character and moral fiber.