I recently watched Saving Private Ryan for the first time, and I honestly wish I hadn’t. It was too disturbing. I was happier when I didn’t have any realistic war nightmares. I was lucky to never fight in a war. Why do I want the nightmare experience if I have not been called to duty? What’s the point? I honestly wish I hadn’t seen it.
I have seen Saving Private Ryan exactly one time.
It revived a lot of unpleasant memories.
A possible unintended point of the movie is to give those who have not been called or chosen to serve a faint appreciation of what it can be like.
“What’s the point?”
The point is that we see a little tiny bit of what our soldiers go through so we can be able to safely sit on our couches and watch movies and talk on the internet about how graphic they are. It gave me a deeper appreciation of the people who do go to war for us, and deal with all that so I don’t have to, although to be honest the only part of that movie that bothered me at all was the shot of the bloody ocean water washing up on the shore at Normandy, and that was beyond even what I’m used to seeing in terms of death and gore and such.
I on the other hand watch it once or twice a year to remind me of the bravery and sacrifices that our military has made to give us the freedom and liberty that we once had. Those in my age group (50s and 60s) can remember the freedom to say what you wanted without fear, for kids to play outside and after dark without fear, to view a policeman without fear and the list goes on and on. WE as a nation have allowed petty little dictators to progressively take away our freedoms one small step at a time and I do not know if we have the will to take them back. I hear a lot of talk but I see no actions.