Posted on 03/01/2010 5:54:50 AM PST by Servant of the Cross
Not at the moment, but I'm coming back. How are you doing?
It's a shame. I really like it out here!
There was a ton of stuff in the movie that was pure crap, but - while depicting the protagonist as a renegade Ranger who actually had no respect for small unit tactics - it did NOT disrespect soldiers in the same way Avatar did.
Period.
ping
All fiction is inaccurate to some degree.
He wasn’t commenting on the war but interpreting the film.
I have not seen it, nor do I intend to. But, I take your son at his word.
I would point out, however, that I don't recall WaPo, or the LA Times which had a similar story, ever writing a piece about the other half-dozen movies about the Iraq war and how far removed from reality that they were.
While I'm sure that the "Hurt Locker" is far removed from the reality of combat, I'm not entirely convinced - at least based upon what I've read - that it's as anti-American, anti-Service Member, anti-Mission, and anti-Bush as so many of the other movies with similar subject matter. And I think that this is what is driving these critical media pieces about the film - not its battle-scene reality, or lack thereof. WaPo is just pissed that the Hurt Locker doesn't take a purely political point of view.
I would suspect that if your son saw Avatar, or Rendition or a few others, he'd think that they were far more anti-military than the "Hurt Locker" may be. Just a guess.
Hollyweird ALWAYS tells the story IT WANTS TO TELL and does so ALWAYS (or nearly so) through a leftist political lens.
And, practicing their leftism like a religion, they totally believe whatever story they tell.
Well, Henry Engelhardt, an adjutant with the National Explosive Ordnance Disposal Association and a man with 20 years of experience in bomb diffusal, praised the film’s atmosphere and depiction of the difficulties of the job, saying, “Of course, no film is realistic in all its details, but the important things were done very well.”
I didn't find the message slated and I would recommend it myself
“Well, Henry Engelhardt, an adjutant with the National Explosive Ordnance Disposal Association and a man with 20 years of experience in bomb diffusal”
However, apparently, the “expert” Henry Engelhardt was not with the troops in Iraq who have a very different view, a very real-time realistic view of the film, and find it badly wanting.
Maybe Englehardt would have a different opinion too, he had come out of the line of fire in Iraq. Maybe he too would have seen how “getting the basics” right does not hide the fact that the general view of events is still distorted, when, as many of the troops say, it is distorted.
All art distorts the truth. Or rather it refracts.
Watched it last night. Your description is exactly what I felt throughout the movie.
I don't understand why this film is even in the running for best picture. Not at all well directed. The acting was mediocre at best. And the storyline was disjointed.
In other words: typical Hollywood schlock.
I didn't see any "soldiers" in Avatar. I saw mercenaries but no soldiers.
“I didn’t see any “soldiers” in Avatar. I saw mercenaries but no soldiers.”
Really? Because they were all former soldiers - they all had prior service. They referred to each other as “marine,” “soldier,” “sir,” or by their military rank.
As a prior service individual myself I clearly understood the comparison.
What disgusted me the most - (and this was right out of the gates) - was when the prior service soldiers were all looking DOWN on the crippled marine. Seriously? The message was “soldiers are rednecks who would treat the handicapped like sh!t” which is complete BS if you know how soldiers would treat someone who had been wounded in the line of duty. (Except “wounds” like John Kerry’s! Ha.)
This, of course, was immediately after they took a dig at the military - the technology to fix his damaged spine had been around for years, but the military wouldn’t pay for it. Ha! Military medicine has done tremendous things with advanced prosthetics.
Anyway - an ex-soldier is still a soldier. I’ll always have it in my blood. Negative stereotypes of soldiers hit me *personally*.
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