So I'm walking down 24th street, the main shopping street near my house here in San Francisco's Noe Valley and I look down into the eyes of the most adorable, trusting little kid. She's a Chinese baby and I smile automatically and think "every grown up Chinese person who someone is prejudiced against was once that little adora-darling." It was one of those mini epiphanies that lead to other thoughts, like, "Hey I suppose even a horror like Fred Phelps was once cute and huggable." Remember the photo of Adolf Hitlter as a babe in arms? So sweet and wide eyed. What the hell happened? Beaten, abused, sexually repressed, the usual litany of misbegotten parenting tales and voila! The beast walks among us!
Go see The White Ribbon, the new Michael Haneke movie, to see this idea presented beautifully and chillingly.
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