Hey guys, I just watched Redacted. I know a couple of users wanted to discuss the movie, but I didn't want to hijack the movie thread. Thought I'd just started a Redacted thread instead. Prepare for a rable:

I thought it was a brilliant movie. Tough to watch for sure . There's no doubt that Brian De Palma is against the Iraq war.

But I think the criticisms I've heard were maybe off base. The biggest complaint is that it is a slap in the face to the troops. It seems to me that these accusations have more to do with our political climate than anything in the movie itself. There were a couple of bad soldiers, but then there were also some very good ones. I think the soldiers in the movie covered a spectrum. Really I didn't see the movie being any more pro- or anti-military than Full Metal Jacket or Brian De Palma's own Casualties of War.

I do think that the 'against our troops' image was initially seized upon and magnified by a bunch of right wing pundits who didn't like the idea of a movie speaking against the Iraq war.

I didn't see anything in the movie that made me feel like Brian De Palma doesn't respect soldiers. I think most people who argue that are missing the point.

What De Palma seemed to be criticizing to me was the American media's complicity in white-washing what is going on over there and the lack of outrage at why we are there in the first place.

First it wasn't called 'Rapist Soldiers', it was called 'Redacted'. Here's a definition of Redact from Merriam Webster: "to select or adapt (as by obscuring or removing sensitive information) for publication or release."

My opinion was that he thinks that the information we get here in the stated is redacted, partly through self-censorship by the press.

You notice how it was filmed like a documentary, but all the footage is from a soldier's private camera, a French documentary, the internet and an Al-Jazeera-like network. No U.S. reporters were included. The movie ends with a photo montage of very gruesome but real images. Stuff that is always redacted in our broadcasts.

I hope you don't think I'm implying that the news should always make the soldiers look bad. That isn't what I mean. But by embedding reporters, the government has been able to put a spin on news about Iraq. Even that spin is failing, but still, the U.S. press has seemingly abdicated some of its' responsibility.

Look at the coverage we get from the networks, CNN and (shudder) Fox news. Then look at the coverage of World War II and Vietnam.

By the way, HHF: I never got the impression that the movie implicated that the beheading of the American soldier had justifiable reasons. It was never implied that the kidnappers knew who they grabbed. After all, the van pulled up and grabbed him at random because his back was turned. That he was one of the main characters seemed to have more to do with keeping the movie's flow than any sort of subtextual thing.

Also, I'm not sure what you wanted to talk about with what happened at the checkpoint, but I'm pretty sure the event was based on a real one. The photo montage at the end showed the real subject.

**I believe I'm going to be away all day tomorrow. I am curious to see what sort of responses this thread will generate.**

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One thing vampire children are taught is, never run with a wooden stake. - Jack Handey

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"when there's no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth."

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Reading:

The Spartacus War - Barry Strauss
Slow Death - Jim Fielder
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon

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_________________
One thing vampire children are taught is, never run with a wooden stake. - Jack Handey

_________________
Reading:

The Spartacus War - Barry Strauss
Slow Death - Jim Fielder
The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire - Edward Gibbon

_________________
One thing vampire children are taught is, never run with a wooden stake. - Jack Handey

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"You know. For kids!"

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"There's no law, no law anymore - I wanna steal from the rich and give to the poor."
~The Ramones~