Monday, May 12, 2014

Blog Entry May 12th

1.) As we watch progress through the film, "The Hurt Locker", how is the idea of realism being used for this movie? What kind of effects do you think this has on viewers?

Realism in most movies today is hard to come by because Hollywood puts a twist on certain circumstances to make the viewer enjoy the movie more. Realism in The Hurt Locker is relevant in the movie based on how the bomb squad is working and how dangerous the situation these soldiers are in. The setting in the movie looks to be very accurate, being in the streets of Iraq. The only thing negative reflection that I have read about The Hurt Locker in reviews is how they portrayed the "rebel" character James. The leader of the bomb squad is seen as a "reckless" solider because he doesn't communicate with his squad and in one scene he takes off his gear in order to defuse a bomb. I think that gives a negative influence on how the US army and military goes about the Iraq War. These bomb squads are trained specifically for those missions and I don't think in real life they would allow this James character to be an actual leader of a bomb squad, being he wasn't following orders from his team.

The effects of the Hurt Locker on viewers today gives them a better outlook on how bomb squads go about defusing bombs. The movie may effect the viewer to give more appreciation to these bomb squads because they are put on very dangerous missions. It gives the viewer a good look on another aspect of the military which most people don't know about. 

2.) What do you think the biggest take is away from this class? What would be a suggestion to make the class better for next year ? 

My biggest take away from this class would be realizing how many movies out there in the world are innaccurate mainly because of Hollywood. The way Hollywood makes a film based on pure entertainment lacks the actual facts on a subject. Although Hollywood does make films more interesting in watching, sometimes the information is completely wrong, which can change one's opinion on the film completely. 

One thing I recommend for this class is to get more involved in the actual making of the film such as where is was actually filmed. Was it on a movie set in a Hollywood building or was it actually in the place where the event occurred. Also, studying the way film was introduced may play a key role into transitioning in this class, but it was very dry to read the material and I basically didn't learn anything significant from it.