Lions for Lambs

[RunJct 0]

I agree with that summary of my review. Without getting into further detail which may ruin the movie for someone here's a couple of perspectives I got from the movie:

It doesn't matter what happened before, but we must win it now and you must support it.
You lied to us about the war before, so why should we believe you now?
War/serving the country as a motivation to do something with your life (not join the military but apply yourself in whatever you do).
Doing a job vs. doing what's right.
Loyalty and Courage.

There's others but that's a list of some perspectives I could think of real quick. I think just about any point of view is covered by one of those.

If "if" were a fifth, then we'd all be drunk

[Jasmin 0]

I can understand that. For me its not a case of boycotting him, its just that seeing him reminds me I'm watching a movie ie any effect/emotion/suspense a movie has built up is lost.

xj

"I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with the earth...but then I wouldn't recommend picking a fight with a car either, and that's having tried both."

[pirana 0]

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While it does question aspects of the war, it's not completely anti-war. It's more like, why are we still doing this and no matter what side of the argument you're on, why aren't you actually doing anything about it?

Kind of a Nero fiddling while Rome burns thing, but instead of Nero it's . . . well . . . 90% of the American population.

… I'd say that if you're a person that likes to go to movies that make you think, it's a good choice.

Thanks for the review; the “movies that make you think” comment definitely gets my attention.

Your review immediately made me think of this month’s issue of Foreign Policy, with the cover story “Iraq is Not His (Pres. Bush) Fault: It’s Yours”:

“It’s easy to blame the violence in Iraq and the pitfalls of the war on terror on a small cabal of neocons, a bumbling president, and an overstretched military. But real fault lies with the American people as well. Americans now ask more of their government but sacrifice less than ever before. It’s an unrealistic, even deadly, way to fight a global war. And, unfortunately, that’s just how the American people want it.”

… and to a provocative Op-Ed on yesterday's Washington Post by a former soldier who served in Iraq, From Abu Ghraib to Georgetown: I'm Back Home, But Still in Iraq's Grasp, which is also linked through National Review Online (i.e., the Op-Ed is getting attention from both ‘sides’). He writes:

“I find it frustrating that Facebook is a bigger part of most students' lives than the war.

“This culture of duty is at odds with the culture of individualism and self-promotion that seems paramount here in college. And yet, the divide between my soldier friends and my fellow students isn't the result of any fundamental differences between the people themselves. Many of my peers at school know much more about the world around them than my fellow soldiers do -- international relations is a popular subject at Georgetown. My Army friends used to laugh when they saw me reading the Economist; my friends here think everyone should read it. Students talk about refugees from Iraq, North Korea, Burma and Darfur with sincere compassion. One of my friends told me: 'I want to dedicate my life to educating people about the sufferings of others.'

“That's a wonderful goal, but I often feel that the words ring hollow. Students' true priorities are demonstrated by their daily activities: They have friends to meet, parties to attend, internships to work at, extracurricular activities to participate in, papers to write and classes to attend. They're under a lot of pressure to build a strong resume for whatever company or graduate school they apply to after college. They're under no pressure to be concerned about those who are less fortunate -- or those who fight wars on their behalf.”

VR/Marg

I think the American public senses that this movie questions their role, and doesn't like that.

Reminds me of O'Rourke's Parliament of Whores. Turns out the whores are not just our leaders, but the public as a whole.

We pretend to be righteous and indignant of many of the behaviors of our leaders, but if it becomes a choice of behaving ethically on the world stage versus having access to lots of cheap goodies to buy; we appear to side with cheap goodies.

Reminds me of an old cartoon, I think from the This Modern World strip. A June Cleaver type housewife proudly showing off her kitchen chock full of fancy gadgets and exclaiming something like "How can I think of and worry about the downtrodden of the world when I have ALL THIS STUFF!"

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley