This is an interesting video. Turns out Guantanamo is force feeding some of the 100+ inmates currently undergoing a hunger strike. To experience that reality, Yaslin Bey (a.k.a. Mos Def) decided to allow himself to be force fed.
Couple things come to mind as I watched this:
1. Dude is a bit… er… tender. Evidently he’s never given birth, nor has he experienced colon cancer. Good grief, if I erupted into tears during every uncomfortable event during my latest cancer adventure, I would have been crying nonstop. A Youtube commenter agrees:
His hysterical overreaction is faker than Bill O’Reilly’s on air persona. Froce feeding of this nature goes on all the time in hospitals. In fact, i was force fed just like this by the hospital and it was nothing to mentally breakdown over. It didn’t bother me at all. Mos Def is acting in this video.
(Note: I’m surprised people don’t use spellcheck more. Just an observation.)
2. He’s a tad dramatic. Wiggling makes nearly every procedure worse. If the docs ask you to sit still, it’s in your best interest to do so. Otherwise it hurts more.
i heard different experiences from relatives about this too. some found it horrible, others just slightly uncomfortable. I guess we have to keep in mind, that it must be completely different, if it’s done against someone’s will. then the person is not relaxing and with the fight they put up against the nurse it will most likely hurt far more.
3. Some commenters sense a propaganda element to the vid:
Hmmm. My wife had to have this done to save her life from a bowel obstruction and I was there with her the whole time. It was not this dramatic. While I am concerned about what is happening in our military prisons, this video is propaganda.
Real or propaganda, the Guantanamo Bay situation is unacceptable and it’s bad enough without including cries of “this is propaganda.” Just presenting facts in this situation should curl enough toes to ignite a grassroots cry for change. But I may be wrong. The ethics of force feeding in this situation definitely need closer examination.
I will acknowledge that this video is exceedingly powerful and thought provoking. (Oh, this vid may not be NSFW.)
