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.
Jack, I agree with what you said in the first question, You obviously looked up many reviews that showed you how realistic people thought this movie was. I never thought about how the army would view a person like James being a leader on one of their teams. I also agree with what you said in the second question. The beginning material was hard to read and I feel like I got lost while reading it. Possibly for next year, it can be taught, just in a different way.
ReplyDeleteJack, as I pointed out in Lizzie's blog, I like how you mention the reckless soldier. I would say it does kind of show a different aspect as to how American soldiers really act during war. They have to be very careful especially with the bomb part of war. I agree how the Hollywood just tries to make movies for enjoyment rather than actually basing the movie off of facts. I think your suggestion is great.
ReplyDeleteJack, I really like your idea for what the class should be like next year. Finding out where the movies were filmed could have a huge influence on the take of the movie. Hollywood does over-do it when it comes to entertainment, and many movies would be so much better if they were the true story, not the Hollywood interpretation. Great blog, Jack!
ReplyDeleteGreat Blog! I also read the review of how the head of the team was a reckless soldier. That made many war veterans and current soldiers mad because they had been there and experienced the war firsthand and they said that the kind of behavior that was represented throughout the film would not have been accepted in real life. It gave the soldier a bad rep and it kind of made the war seem like some sort of a game. That was an interesting suggestion you had about looking into the actual making of the film, like where it was shot. This would help provide some more background information about the movie before you actually watched it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you when you say you don't think someone like James would be a leader of a bomb squad. That's about the only thing I thought that the movie was being inaccurate about especially when in the film he took off his headset. I like you suggest to mr.leier to see where the movie was filmed, that would give the class a understanding as to why it was filmed there if there was a significant reason for it.
ReplyDeleteJack, I really like your idea of looking into where the film was actually made. That would be something really interesting to look into. If the students could find out if the movie was made on site or in hollywood. I also agree that a lot of the information hollywood presents to people is inaccurate. They are mainly based on making money and it's a little sad that no movie can be the "real" real story.
ReplyDeleteJack This blog was really good but really long ha ha, but I do however agree with your outlooks on the class and the takeaway that you have for the class is that Hollywood messes up a lot of historical movies and other stuff that could otherwise still be a well reputable movie without tampering with the story line very much.
ReplyDeleteIts true that the army prolly wouldn't allow a person like James to do the things he does, at least I hope not. I do think we read a lot of dry material, but I do think we learned something when we read it. However, some were so dry it was hard to take anything from it and learn anything.
ReplyDeleteI agree with mostly what you said about the realism of the movie. I do however question that there probably have been soldiers that where reckless like James. The only thing is though im sure they would be court marshaled soon after committing that act. I also agree with your statement about how i realize know how many movies I falsely believed where true are actually very inaccurate just to entertain the viewer.
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