If I am going to die, I am going to be comfortable

There are two things that you should know about me. I believe that they exist independently of one another, though I do not have the proper emotional disinterest to be sure. 1. I am a pacifist. I believe that war does not solve problems but rather leads to greater, more costly ones. 2. I am a coward. I can not fathom putting my life on the line for anything. I have not met the cause worth dying for (or the absence of which makes living worthless).

Given these two character traits, I have mixed feelings about our military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. While the injudicious application of force has the ability to exacerbate the problem of the insurgency (the more innocents killed, the more friends/family wish vengeance), I cannot help but hold in high esteem those men and women who join our all volunteer military and lay their lives on the line in these conflicts. I am not naive enough to believe that all are moved by patriotism. In our desperately unequal society, there are many who use the military as a ticket to a better education and a better life. In my humble opinion, they deserve every perk allotted to them for their willingness to embark on something that I cannot even comprehend.

This is not meant to be an overly political blog. I have seen politics rip apart my family and I hope I have not alienated any friends I may have among my few followers. Tonight's movie has sparked this philosophic digression from an otherwise airy, (hopefully) entertaining snarkfest. Director Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker is quite possibly the most honest war movie I have ever seen. Being a coward, you can imagine that I have not seen many. My experience is broad enough, however to identify many of the patterns of character types, symbolism, and storylines that directors use to communicate their view of a given conflict. Perhaps it is because Bigelow apparently views war as I do, but I found her movie absent of both the usual flag waving and pacifist tripe too common in conflict film.

The movie opens with death. Not a fire fight or a bombing raid, but the sudden, unexpected death of one of the three characters that you have gotten to know in the first ten minutes of the film. A demolitions specialist, he is blown up with his teammates and countless Iraqis looking on. The thing is, he dies because the wheel came off of the demolition wagon carrying the explosives that would detonate the IED that his team was investigating. Had the wagon survived, the soldier would have as well. This sense of capriciousness is typical of Bigelow's tone throughout the film. Why is it that the man who follows all of the precautions gets killed while the cowboy who places his team in danger lives on? These questions lead to the underlying enigma about the American presence in Iraq.

While the futility of the war becomes increasingly clear as the movie unfolds, so does the heroism and humanity of each soldier profiled. While they begin the movie as types: the cowboy, the good sergeant, the one suffering from PTSD, they develop depth throughout the film and become human. The cowboy cannot connect with his wife and son but forms an attachment to a local Iraqi boy that sends him on a suicide mission. The good sergeant, strikes out in anger against the irrationality of his team leader but still turns to him for advice in his weakest area.

Throughout the whole film runs a countdown of the days left in Bravo company's tour. It inspires a feeling of foreboding in the audience. My husband predicted what I was thinking as well, "that someone is going to die on the last day." What happens instead is equally shocking and much less comfortable to absorb.

Bigelow's realism, honesty, and unblinking observation of these three warriors makes this the most deserving of the best picture nominees I have seen so far. I have yet to see Precious, An Education, or Up in the Air but my gut reaction is that none of those introspective, character-based dramas can come close to the timeliness and forcefulness displayed in this masterpiece. Every American should see this movie. Well done Ms. Bigelow