There's so much emotional and ideological baggage orbitting this movie that it's hard to get people to be honest about it.
Technically speaking - cinematography, acting, etc. - this movie is very poorly made. Most critics agree with this point. It's far from a masterpiece. Most of the people who love this movie do so for ideological reasons; they're so against the War in Iraq - as in fashionable - that they latch onto any movie that backs them up, regardless of how poor its quality may be.
Of course, anti-Iraq people aren't the only ones to be biased. Pro-Iraq, or at least pro-military, people, regard this movie as anti-American, which automatically makes them think poorly of it.
I'm an America. I am and always have been against the War in Iraq. But that doesn't cloud my judgment of the film's quality, which I still feel is poor. I also feel it's also a dishonest film. Yes, it's based on true events. Yes, war can bring the barbarian out of even a normal person. But to say that this is how ALL the U. S. troops are is downright dishonest. So many people try to make things black and white, but reality rarely works that way. There's good and bad in all of us, and good in bad in every U. S. soldier. They aren't angelic saints, nor are they all raping barbarians. They are human beings, and therefore flawed; in the end, it's our CHOICES that define us. The servicemen who raped that girl made their choice, and they are animals. But many troops have made better choices than that.
One observation about the OP. He/she seems to be part of the Cult of the Military that pervades the thinking of some Americans (though not all, by any stretch of the imagination). The Cult of the Military essentially says that Freedom isn't free, and that the cost of freedom is blood, which must periodically be sacrificed on the altar of Liberty by the military-clergy. This kind of thinking tends to believe that we only have freedom because we are ALLOWED it by the government, and that we should be grateful for it and turn an unquestioning reverence onto the government and the military. This is exemplified by the "Love it or leave it" mentality, which is nonsense, not because it's illogical for people to avoid what they dislike, but because it wants to discredit legitimate criticism and want for reform. I love this country, but I also think this country needs reform, and that we, the people, have an obligation to call out for reform. I also think that, while the military HAS protected us and our way of life in the past, I don't think putting on the uniform automatically qualifies you for reverence. For example, our freedoms are not at stake in Iraq. It's an unnecessary war. As unfortunate as it may be, U. S. troops are fighting and dying for the faulty information, ideological overzealousness, and corporate greed of our government.
But, to get back to the original point, I DO think this film is poorly made and intellectually dishonest.
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Windywoo
15 years ago
People aren't against the war because its fashionable you prick. They are against it because it was a bad idea in the first place.
The last time the military defended anyone's freedoms was in 1945, since then its been America forcing its ideas on the rest of the world.
No-one was more dishonest than the American military in the invasion of Iraq, and while the consequences of a dishonest film may be some people being misinformed, the consequences of a dishonest war are exponentially more costly.
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ZildjianDFW
15 years ago
I didn't say anyone who was against the war only are because it's fashionable. I'm against the war, as I said, and I'm not even a liberal. But I think that some people are against the war because they perceive it to be the "cool" thing to do. Not everyone does things for principled reasons. And I agree with you that the military hasn't really "saved our freedom" since WWII (despite the retarted mentality that every war we fight is fought for our freedom, and that any dissent against the war is ungrateful).
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johnmartindj
9 years ago
thanks for clarifying that you didn't say some people were for the war because it was "fashionable" but because it was "cool."
Now can you explain what the difference is?
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