Zero Dark Thirty

Stop the Madness!

I originally saw Bigelow's Hurt Locker when I was deployed to Iraq in 2010. I hated it. It was absolute garbage from the get-go, especially from a EOD standpoint. It's a overtly obnoxious, ignorant, and inaccurate piece of Hollywood shlock that loves to continue the time honored Hollywood tradition of portraying members of the Armed Forces as psychopathic lunatics. In furtherance of Bigelowlife's impression of our men and women in uniform, we're punched in the face with comments like; "Going to war is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It could be fun." "I don't know man, they all look the same." Which of course references an Iraqi.

Hollywood's stereotyped depiction of unstable vets is in full swing here, with an increasingly reckless adrenaline junkie and his disregard for safety and communication SOP puts everyone around him in danger. When the men in the ranks display cold, casual racism, an American Colonel savagely orders that an Iraqi be left to bleed to death and a profoundly unprofessional protagonist, so demented by war he can no longer love his own son, repeatedly endangers himself and the men in his charge, I don't see "nuance" or "depth" or "complicated" characters.

Hollywood prefers cowardice over courage; witless whiners to motivated individuals; gutless wimps and hollow phonies to men who know the meaning of self-sacrifice and integrity. That’s the only conclusion one can draw after seeing Hollywood’s recent plethora of anti-military films.

So, where does that leave Zero Dark Thirty? Probably along the same lines as Hurt Locker. It'll be a highly political film with minimal attention to detail, overt dramatization of events, and a singular hatred for the U.S. Military, though it will be subtle. I may have to force myself to see it just to write a review. Though I'll likely have to get nice and liquored up to do it.