I think the point they were trying to get over was that being on that kind of duty MAKES you a looney! Certainly, in the movie the main character is depicted as someone who gets such a high on the adrenalin rush of the job that he is unable to properly adjust to “normality”. In other words, the implication is that war (specifically the war in Iraq now) is distorting and corrupting people. Marvellously supporting message eh?
Now of course, bomb disposal IS highly stressful, and under stress people do very odd things, BUT, the military is very well aware of the pressures and I’m sure keeps a very close eye on those doing it. I would imagine that soldiers who begin to act like the protagonist in “The Hurt Locker” are going to hoiked out pretty quickly.
I didn't get that message at all. The main character is the one who is having trouble fitting into a 'normal' life, but it seemed he was like that before he ever joined the Army. The other men on his team were not like him, and except for the younger one, didn't diss the war effort.
The men on the OED team were under pressure from being in a very dangerous job. They talked about the increased number of IEDs they were having to remove, but remember, this story takes place after the increase in al Queda operations, but before the surge in Coalition forces. I didn't come away from the movie with a negative view of the war in Iraq at all.