Yes, Danny Pearl made a tragic naive mistake. But he was a brave journalist. Many of my students at the time watched the beheading, and I, like Marianne, would never want to watch the unspeakable horror, and its poison meant to terrorize us.

Instead of being bitter and fanatical about her husband's brutal end, she has become more committed to the peace movement, which is are only hope. I doubt I could be as strong as her.

As for A Mighty Heart, it was not at all exploitive. I read reviews that said Angelina Jolie was distracting, because, well, she is Angelina Jolie. But I must say, she did as strong a job of capturing Marianne, as effectively as one could to capture a unique brave and global woman who has faced such horror. Jolie got Marriane’s complex hybrid accent down too. Surprisingly, I was not at all distracted by her Angelina Jolieness. Her performance was one of immersion, intimate and solid. While I still prefer the HBO documentary, I urge you to see A Mighty Heart.

Its ultimate lesson, as conveyed in Marianne's book, is that hate can not be countered by hate, because then we are dehumanized.