As we watch progress through the film, "The Hurt Locker", how is the idea of realism being used for this movie? What kind of effects do you think this has on viewers?
-The Hurt Locker portrays realism in a very accurate sense. You can tell by watching this movie that the director and actors did research on the subject before they started filming. I read an interview from a man that served in the War in Iraq and he said that he witnessed the events and daily life firsthand, he watched The Hurt Locker found much of the information and events to be historically accurate. The Hurt Locker has been called "a near-perfect war film" by many of its critics. On the other hand, some war veterans are disturbed by the fact that one of the central characters was so reckless. It raises the question, "Would a soldier who took such a brash approach to his mission, endangering both himself and all those under his leadership, really be allowed to keep his job?" They say that when you serve in the war you have to be very careful and take many precautions. I don't know much about the mechanics of the War in Iraq so that makes it hard for me to say whether or not the movie is real and accurately represented, but from what I saw of it the events and situated seemed to be represented well. I feel like when they made the movie they wanted to create a sense of what it would be like to be in the war and give a little insight into what the soldiers go through. When a movie is accurate and based off of real events, it makes it easier for the viewer to watch. They then have time to sit back and enjoy the film instead of picking out all of the parts that were not true or unrealistic.
What do you think your biggest take away from this class? What would be a suggestion to make the class better for next year?
My favorite part of class was the actor/actress tournament. I love to debate so I suppose this a major reason why this was my favorite part. I am more of a hands on learner so this helped me to put things into a better perspective. I think that students should be comfortable getting up and speaking in front of people so this helped us all develop better public speaking abilities. I think that next years class should definitely have a chance to participate in this. Another take away from this class is the new way that I have developed to watch movies. Prior to this class, I used to just watch movies for the enjoyment, but now when I watch movies I look at the mechanics of the film and think about how much work went into producing it. It makes me appreciate the movie so much more when I take a deeper meaning out of it. Now it bothers me when I watch a movie that is poorly put together or does not represent true events. As far as suggestions I can't think of many. Maybe less writing papers and more in class discussion. This class was very different than any class I have taken before and it opened my eyes to a new way of learning.
