War is Awesome, Sort of

That’s the impression you might get from me based on some of the movies I like. The truth is, I like War movies because a good one can stir emotions up in you, convey important messages, and educate you about sacrifices that people like you and I have made. It is most certainly not because I enjoy watching other people kill or be killed.

In fact, every great war movie that I have ever seen has been an anti-war movie. Even the good movies that are about wars that were unarguably necessary like The American Revolution and World War II, still convey the horrors and the ultimate waste of human life that the wars result in.

What’s so compelling to me is theme of sacrifice for an idea, ie. what you fight for. Patriotism and camaraderie are the major heavy lifters when it comes to these movies. Mel Gibson’s The Patriot is the obvious choice here when you talk about Patriotism. It’s basically Braveheart in America…and it is glorious. You see, it’s not all about authenticity and accuracy (though the battle scenes are very authentic), because then it’d be a documentary. Mel Gibson is great at putting emotion into his stories and making the plots personal. The reluctant hero that loses two sons for his country, the man with a haunted past, the man who rises to lead a new nation. The man who literally stabs the evil pompous Brit with the American Flag. Movie magic! Throw your fist into the air, it’s ok I know I did! Patriotism isn’t always this romanticized, but you get the idea. It’s great when it’s done well.

But there is also another kind of emotion called camaraderie. That you would sacrifice your own life for the man next to you. We’re talking about life and death here people. This is heavy stuff. As someone who regularly falls into existentialist and religious pondering, it compels the hell out of me. I mean, even if you’re not like me, maybe you don’t believe in anything. Still, the idea that without a blink you could end it all for a friend? And what’s even MORE compelling is that this stuff really happens. It’s not made up. It happens all the time to real people, not actors. When movies do that idea justice, in some infinitesimal way, we honor those brave people. Band of Brothers probably does the camaraderie idea the best justice I’ve ever seen.

But that’s not enough anymore. Too many great movies, too many good authors, too many high budgets. We’re a sophisticated audience, and sometimes we get saturated of awesomeness. (Disgression: This happens with boxing movies too, so make sure you space out these kinds of movies so you can properly appreciate them). So what’s the new standard? I’ll tell you.

Do what you always do, but tell me stories I’ve never heard before. History is littered with them. Tell me about a group of people who did something great. Maybe it was something small. Maybe it doesn’t even seem that great at all. Maybe it wasn’t extraordinary at the time, maybe it wasn’t appreciated at the time, maybe, even worse, nobody knows it even happened. Tell me those stories. That’s the stuff that will take patriotism and camaraderie, and push it to the next level and make a good war movie a great one.

-Chris