If you died trying, would you make it to paradise now?

"Why do men from Nablus put so much sugar in their tea?" "I don't know, it's just the way it is. Everybody does it."
It's a little exchange early in recent Oscar Nominee "Paradise Now", but that's the heart of the movie. It's about two Palestinian terrorists as they may (or may not- no spoilers here) be getting ready to die, and why they do the things they do, and it's a very human movie. It reminds me (and sometimes I do need the reminder) that terrorists don't crawl out of their mommies with bombs strapped to their chests. That they're people who are capable of kindness, keep pets, have favorite songs, can love their girlfriends (or boyfriends, yes, there are girl terrorists), and sometimes like a lot of sugar in their tea.You don't have to justify murder to understand that it comes from people, not cartoon characters.

I just watched this next to Jim Sheridan's "Get Rich or Die Trying" (a Curtis "Fifty Cents" Jackson quasi-biopic), and some interesting moral problems arose.

Why was I left feeling a lot more sympathy for the terrorists than for Fitty?

I'll tell you three things: One: Fitty makes the big bucks out of rehashing his gansta ways. You're supposed to love him because he's sorry now, has dimples, is on MTV all the time, and loves you like a fat kid loves cake. Still his best line, but damn it, is that really such a cultural accomplishment?

Two: 50 Cents came from a (sort of) impoverished background*, but he was not culturally isolated. (One of the characters in "Paradise Now" has only been to the cinema once in his life- to burn it down during a protest.) By contrast, Fitty wasn't raised believing it was God's will that he should hold up a liquor store with a handgun. He knew different, but went ahead and did what he did. Don't get me wrong, I UNDERSTAND him as much as I understand the terrorists, (who wouldn't like to sell crack to little kids?) but in a weird way he's just a lot less excusable.

Three: Terrorists, whatever else they may be, are not selfish. They do what they do out of ideals (FUCKED UP IDEALS, but ideals nonetheless.) They think they are serving God, their people, their country, whatever particular brainwash they've been subjected to. (No need to mock their feeble mindedness- if you think you haven't been culturally brainwashed into accepting some very horrible things, then you're not thinking hard enough.) But when Fitty was out shooting (and getting shot), he wasn't serving nobody but his need to get a better pair of Nikes. Sorry for the rant. It's late, you know.

Watch "Paradise Now." Don't worry, fellow Zionists, anyone can agree on it. Except the Academy, they went for the less tricky- and treaclier- "Tsotsi."

*re: the "sort of impoverished background"- he still had his Wheaties every morning, he didn't lack a house or a family network, and his crack-selling momma bought him all sorts of nice clothes, as the movie reassures me. Coming from a REALLY impoverished background, I find that sort of sad story inadmissible as an excuse for attempted murder. God, I'm turning into an asshole conservative in my old age, aren't I?