Comments on: 'The Hurt Locker' – The Myth of Chaos Into Order Through Violence http://thefilmtalk.com/blog/the-hurt-locker/ Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:22:01 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: The Film Talk » The Film Talk – Part 81 – The Hurt Locker / Funny Peoplehttp://thefilmtalk.com/blog/the-hurt-locker/#comment-2822 The Film Talk » The Film Talk – Part 81 – The Hurt Locker / Funny People Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:23:40 +0000 http://www.thefilmtalk.com/?p=2991#comment-2822 [...] ‘The Hurt Locker’ – The Myth of Chaos Into Order Through Violence [...] [...] ‘The Hurt Locker’ – The Myth of Chaos Into Order Through Violence [...]

]]> By: ejthiggshttp://thefilmtalk.com/blog/the-hurt-locker/#comment-2823 ejthiggs Tue, 04 Aug 2009 22:31:36 +0000 http://www.thefilmtalk.com/?p=2991#comment-2823 Can't wait to see this film since I saw Kathryn Bigelow on the Colbert Report.<br><br>"...to replace the myth that chaos can be turned into order through violence, someone needs to tell different stories about how change occurs; to offer a choice between brutality and cowardice, someone needs to offer a different vision of masculinity than the false choice between warrior or wimp."<br><br>Thank you, Gareth, for a really incisive observation. (Maybe this isn't the proper place, but if you'll allow me, It seems to me that a critique of war is impossible without a critique of the 'masculinity' our societies favour. And war films, if I can generalise, are always about masculinity (for me) - whether it's an uncritical acceptance of it, or a glorification of it, or occasionally a more questioning look.) Can't wait to see this film since I saw Kathryn Bigelow on the Colbert Report.

“…to replace the myth that chaos can be turned into order through violence, someone needs to tell different stories about how change occurs; to offer a choice between brutality and cowardice, someone needs to offer a different vision of masculinity than the false choice between warrior or wimp.”

Thank you, Gareth, for a really incisive observation. (Maybe this isn't the proper place, but if you'll allow me, It seems to me that a critique of war is impossible without a critique of the 'masculinity' our societies favour. And war films, if I can generalise, are always about masculinity (for me) – whether it's an uncritical acceptance of it, or a glorification of it, or occasionally a more questioning look.)

]]> By: Philhttp://thefilmtalk.com/blog/the-hurt-locker/#comment-2824 Phil Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:28:46 +0000 http://www.thefilmtalk.com/?p=2991#comment-2824 They did an excellent job of getting into the heads of these soldiers. Some want to be anyplace but there, others wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I know people like this, who are over there right now. A very realistic and respectfully made movie. They did an excellent job of getting into the heads of these soldiers. Some want to be anyplace but there, others wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I know people like this, who are over there right now. A very realistic and respectfully made movie.

]]> By: ejthiggshttp://thefilmtalk.com/blog/the-hurt-locker/#comment-2821 ejthiggs Tue, 04 Aug 2009 15:31:36 +0000 http://www.thefilmtalk.com/?p=2991#comment-2821 Can't wait to see this film since I saw Kathryn Bigelow on the Colbert Report.<br><br>"...to replace the myth that chaos can be turned into order through violence, someone needs to tell different stories about how change occurs; to offer a choice between brutality and cowardice, someone needs to offer a different vision of masculinity than the false choice between warrior or wimp."<br><br>Thank you, Gareth, for a really incisive observation. (Maybe this isn't the proper place, but if you'll allow me, It seems to me that a critique of war is impossible without a critique of the 'masculinity' our societies favour. And war films, if I can generalise, are always about masculinity (for me) - whether it's an uncritical acceptance of it, or a glorification of it, or occasionally a more questioning look.) Can't wait to see this film since I saw Kathryn Bigelow on the Colbert Report.

“…to replace the myth that chaos can be turned into order through violence, someone needs to tell different stories about how change occurs; to offer a choice between brutality and cowardice, someone needs to offer a different vision of masculinity than the false choice between warrior or wimp.”

Thank you, Gareth, for a really incisive observation. (Maybe this isn't the proper place, but if you'll allow me, It seems to me that a critique of war is impossible without a critique of the 'masculinity' our societies favour. And war films, if I can generalise, are always about masculinity (for me) – whether it's an uncritical acceptance of it, or a glorification of it, or occasionally a more questioning look.)

]]> By: Philhttp://thefilmtalk.com/blog/the-hurt-locker/#comment-2820 Phil Tue, 04 Aug 2009 12:28:46 +0000 http://www.thefilmtalk.com/?p=2991#comment-2820 They did an excellent job of getting into the heads of these soldiers. Some want to be anyplace but there, others wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I know people like this, who are over there right now. A very realistic and respectfully made movie. They did an excellent job of getting into the heads of these soldiers. Some want to be anyplace but there, others wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I know people like this, who are over there right now. A very realistic and respectfully made movie.

]]> By: peterhttp://thefilmtalk.com/blog/the-hurt-locker/#comment-2819 peter Mon, 03 Aug 2009 23:20:53 +0000 http://www.thefilmtalk.com/?p=2991#comment-2819 Truly a wonderful movie, my favorite of the year thus far, I can't wait to get your discussion on it. I was consistently impressed by how the movie would always manage to avoid cliche and go in a completley different direction from what modern-day cinema conditioning would lead you to expect. The subplot with the child in particular, which I know many people have criticized as being extraneous, I find to be just brilliant at how it subverts action-movie expectations and what it says about the real world versus the fictionalized. Combine this with a brilliant attention to detail (I love that in the sniper scene, the distant enemies are blurry and out-of-focus, which they would be at that range), and incredible tension, and you have one hell of a picture. Truly a wonderful movie, my favorite of the year thus far, I can't wait to get your discussion on it. I was consistently impressed by how the movie would always manage to avoid cliche and go in a completley different direction from what modern-day cinema conditioning would lead you to expect. The subplot with the child in particular, which I know many people have criticized as being extraneous, I find to be just brilliant at how it subverts action-movie expectations and what it says about the real world versus the fictionalized. Combine this with a brilliant attention to detail (I love that in the sniper scene, the distant enemies are blurry and out-of-focus, which they would be at that range), and incredible tension, and you have one hell of a picture.

]]> By: Anahttp://thefilmtalk.com/blog/the-hurt-locker/#comment-2818 Ana Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:35:19 +0000 http://www.thefilmtalk.com/?p=2991#comment-2818 Thanks for another thoughtful post Gareth. Building on the movie's challenge you brought up so eloquently, how can a peaceful society, even if it offers more than a vast choice of breakfast cereals, cross the immense gap that is created between civilian citizens and those citizens that have been exposed to the psychological trauma of war? For generations we have been expecting almost impossible feats of assimilation from returning soldiers. It leads me to esentially the same quandry as yours, and is so well evoked by Renner's character in The Hurt Locker: If we send a man or woman to war and he/she discovers strengths and talents in the context of violence and chaos, how can we build a peaceful society where those strengths and talents have voice and meaning and the ability to prevent war in the first place? Thanks for another thoughtful post Gareth. Building on the movie's challenge you brought up so eloquently, how can a peaceful society, even if it offers more than a vast choice of breakfast cereals, cross the immense gap that is created between civilian citizens and those citizens that have been exposed to the psychological trauma of war? For generations we have been expecting almost impossible feats of assimilation from returning soldiers. It leads me to esentially the same quandry as yours, and is so well evoked by Renner's character in The Hurt Locker: If we send a man or woman to war and he/she discovers strengths and talents in the context of violence and chaos, how can we build a peaceful society where those strengths and talents have voice and meaning and the ability to prevent war in the first place?

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