At what cost do we "Lift the Curtain"

The Republic of the Union of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has rested as an independent and unnoticed country in the region of South Eastern Asia. This streak of abandon soon changed when Robert H. Lieberman landed in Myanmar during the Winter of 2008. There, he shot 120 hours of footage which has now been condensed and edited into the 88-minute documentary, “They Call It Myanmar: Lifting the Curtain.” Lieberman’s film will be debuting next Monday and Tuesday at Sunshine Cinema in New York, New York. The film will then trickle out into the United States and ultimately the globe as it is expected to reach full release within the year.

According to Lieberman, his “ultimate goal was to bring Burma into western consciousness…put a human face to the country. Up until Hillary‘s visit, it was really one of the most isolated countries on the planet.” Although he is bringing great, positive exposure to an isolated land and is helping westerners gain insight on the culture and political woes of Burma through his documentary, this project was ethically wrong.

The Burmans are a people hidden to the western eye by intention. They choose to be recluses from society; therefore, Lieberman imposed his own will and his own value of equality (through exposure) and transparency (of multiple cultures) on the Burmans. What’s worst is that he was sternly instructed to not film, for it is against the cultural norm of the Burmese people. He did it anyway, with complete disregard of the Burman culture.

How can someone fight to expose another’s culture if they can’t even respect that culture? This question is a mystery to me; however, Lieberman may have the answer. He managed to go on with his life, with a clean conscious and a new movie that is bound to be successful, by cautiously sneaking around Burma with a hidden camera and video camera to capture footage of military and government buildings and activities. If caught, he could have easily been arrested; however, he thought the ends (the eventual movie) justified the ends (breaking the Burmese law). The question I have for you after all of this is can we use American capitalistic ends to justify American imposed means on a foreign culture. I think that is ethnocentric crap, but it’s up for you to decide.