Three Billboards Outside Castille, Valletta

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. A captivating film, that breaks out from the recent overdose of action, sci-fi and comedy movies. Finally, a film, that relates to reality, a story evolving around the woes of everyday life.

What also got me to watch the film, was the fact that #OccupyJustice have copied the strategy in their latest call for justice for murdered journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Three billboards calling for justice, but unfortunately not everybody managed to see them since the Planning Authority suddenly decided to implement the law.

It doesn’t surprise me that the law is scarcely applied for years only to be implemented when the master deems right. In a healthy democratic republic, the hands that control the puppet should be the rule of law and citizens. Unfortunately, the public can be easily hypnotised. In such situations, the only way to gain justice is through the hands of the blindfolded goddess.

Just like the award winning movie, #OccupyJustice are voicing concerns over the rule of law and this is completely legitimate. We all have the right to make up our own minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas with other people.

Living abroad, provides a natural outsider view, and allows you to observe what is going on both on local and international media without the distractions of spin. Even looking into the ICIJ databases, there are a lot of unanswered questions. Such as how come persons pass Maltese due diligence process and be granted a license to operate a bank when the same people are linked to money laundering between Venezuela and Iran?

This information is freely available on the internet; no assistance was required to find this information, neither from the Russians nor the Yanks, but a simple Google search does the job.

Following all the latest gaffes we witnessed (such as the police commissioner eating rabbit in Mgarr while luggage is vanishing with god knows what) I can give greater credit to John Bundy’s 90s’ hit Pajjiż tal-Mickey Mouse.

If it wasn’t an everyday reality, it would be a great script for a comedy of errors during which the actors are doing their best to make us believe that the absurd is reality.

It is a shame that even in such a critical situation for our beloved country, we are still unable to think freely. Unfortunately, although we achieved a lot for our size, we still have not managed to have a free objective thinking society, instead we are still tied to our political allegiances.

Without free and critical thought we are experiencing a masked democracy. The democratic right, that is voting, is a very important tool in the hands of the citizens. I agree that voting rights should be as inclusive and widespread as possible. However, I believe, that like with any tool a certain level of training should be provided before using the right.

It is high time political studies is introduced in our schools. We need to unleash ourselves from political allegiances based on our parents’ beliefs and obligations. If we do not educate youngsters to be objective the new voters will be another bunch of sheep following the herd.

Politics should be about ideas, opinions and beliefs and not about gaining a job or getting grandma in a retirement home. Getting a job and living decently are your rights as a citizen and it is the government’s duty to assure the provision of such services.

As Dixon says in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, ‘we are good citizens’, however, we need to learn how to think.