your grace is wasted in your face
I watched an interesting documentary last night, called "Restrepo." It is about a company of soldiers stationed in the Kournegal Valley in Afghanistan, apparently the most dangerous place in the country. Gunfights every day. Brutal conditions.
I really liked the way they did the documentary. No commentary, no judgements either way on what was going on. They simply showed what was going on in the lives of the soldiers, intercut with interviews with various soldiers (the ones who survived) talking about their reactions and memories of their deployment there.
So while this was completely objective and they weren't at all trying to glorify their mission, I still think that perhaps the viewer isn't meant to come away feeling disgust for the men serving in that hellhole.
Disgust is maybe a little strong. There were conflicting emotions - there were times that were almost endearing: random horseplay, a soldier playing guitar and singing, seeing their comradeship under fire. But overall, I just wanted them out of there.
They were complete dicks to the locals living in the valley. Every week they would have a meeting with the local elders, who brought up such complaints as, hey, you need to stop killing innocent locals! Or, hey, you killed my cow and ate it and I want you to pay for it! Or, hey, I understand your motivations for this particular plan of yours, but here is how it is fucking us over! And the commander was a total dick to them. Direct quote: "Tell him [speaking to the translator] that what he doesn't understand is that I don't give a fuck."
There was another point that really made me upset, when the soldiers find out that another company got attacked and lost 9 men. Yeah, it is completely tragic, and there is cause to be upset, but the speech that the commander gave to his soldiers at Outpost Restrepo was awful. Full of talk of revenge and how that's how we do it in America and we make those bastards pay. I understand such sentiments, but it wasn't so much that he was saying it, but how he was saying it. It's hard to describe... it upset me, though.
I know I don't have nearly a complete grasp of what is going on over there, and I can't really say with an informed opinion whether or not we should actually be there. I think a lot of this stems from my distrust of the media, or the government or military, to tell us the whole story. We are only told that "they hate us for our freedoms," but that's bullshit. I don't know why the Taliban feels so angry, and I bet the majority of the soldiers don't really know the real reason, either. They are just told to kill them.
So maybe we are doing the right thing over there, but I don't know. All I know is that we have upset them somehow and we are too proud to try to figure out how.
Anyway. It's a good documentary, and I would suggest watching it. If anything else, it's really fascinating to see such a frank portrayal of exactly what some of the soldiers are going through.
Oh, and by the way, I never want to see a grown man cry like that again. That was the most disturbing thing in this film...
I really liked the way they did the documentary. No commentary, no judgements either way on what was going on. They simply showed what was going on in the lives of the soldiers, intercut with interviews with various soldiers (the ones who survived) talking about their reactions and memories of their deployment there.
So while this was completely objective and they weren't at all trying to glorify their mission, I still think that perhaps the viewer isn't meant to come away feeling disgust for the men serving in that hellhole.
Disgust is maybe a little strong. There were conflicting emotions - there were times that were almost endearing: random horseplay, a soldier playing guitar and singing, seeing their comradeship under fire. But overall, I just wanted them out of there.
They were complete dicks to the locals living in the valley. Every week they would have a meeting with the local elders, who brought up such complaints as, hey, you need to stop killing innocent locals! Or, hey, you killed my cow and ate it and I want you to pay for it! Or, hey, I understand your motivations for this particular plan of yours, but here is how it is fucking us over! And the commander was a total dick to them. Direct quote: "Tell him [speaking to the translator] that what he doesn't understand is that I don't give a fuck."
There was another point that really made me upset, when the soldiers find out that another company got attacked and lost 9 men. Yeah, it is completely tragic, and there is cause to be upset, but the speech that the commander gave to his soldiers at Outpost Restrepo was awful. Full of talk of revenge and how that's how we do it in America and we make those bastards pay. I understand such sentiments, but it wasn't so much that he was saying it, but how he was saying it. It's hard to describe... it upset me, though.
I know I don't have nearly a complete grasp of what is going on over there, and I can't really say with an informed opinion whether or not we should actually be there. I think a lot of this stems from my distrust of the media, or the government or military, to tell us the whole story. We are only told that "they hate us for our freedoms," but that's bullshit. I don't know why the Taliban feels so angry, and I bet the majority of the soldiers don't really know the real reason, either. They are just told to kill them.
So maybe we are doing the right thing over there, but I don't know. All I know is that we have upset them somehow and we are too proud to try to figure out how.
Anyway. It's a good documentary, and I would suggest watching it. If anything else, it's really fascinating to see such a frank portrayal of exactly what some of the soldiers are going through.
Oh, and by the way, I never want to see a grown man cry like that again. That was the most disturbing thing in this film...