The hurt locker and ptsd essay example graduateway. The movie reflects on the celebrated life of a soldier and is entitled, war is a drug. The hurt locker is a movie written by mark boal and directed by kathryn bigelow. The word polarizing does not begin to describe the effect the movie has on combat veterans, and i might be the sole dissenter among my former platoonmates who have. Scene has especially more significance if you see the movie. No eod tech would just manhandle a daisychain of 155s. When there is nowhere else left to run specifically for you. This article addresses two iraq war films, the hurt locker bigelow, 2008the hurt. Assignment some military friends of mine have scoffed at the technical portrayal of defusing bombs presented in the hurt locker, citing inaccuracies such as the fact that such a small bombdefusing crew would be sent out alone, and that crews were more accustomed to responding to situations than sniffing for bombs on deserted streets.
The hollywood film the hurt locker, directed by kathryn bigelow, depicts the. The hurt locker, directed by kathryn bigelow from a script by mark boal, is the best nondocumentary american feature made yet about the war in iraq. Hurt locker, the internet movie firearms database guns in. Staff sargent matthew thompson guy pearce, sergeant j. Military veterans and ptsd explored in new film thank you. The hurt locker is a movie directed by kathryn bigelow. Ptsd post traumatic stress disorder ptsd is a very important topic because it can affect many people now, and with todays society, can be a very touchy but interesting topic. Three members of the armys elite explosive ordnance disposal eod squad battle insurgents and each other as they search for and. The hurt locker has a very untraditional beginning. This leads to the main theme within this movie, that war is a drug chris hedges. In the movie renner portrays an army explosive ordinance disposal eod soldier serving in iraq whose. My civilian friends keep asking me why im so mad, because most of them enjoyed watching it.
Aug 28, 2009 how weird and ironic, then, that the nearest thing we have to wayne is also the best and most insightful antiwar film about iraq. The hurt locker premiered at the 2008 venice international film festival before it was released in the united states on june 26, 2009, by summit entertainment. The article in question is about film director kathryn bigelows war movie and oscaraward frontrunner, the hurt locker. The films screenwriter, mark boal, says the meaning may change based on context, but basically a hurt locker is a place of pain and sufferingyou know, somewhere you really don.
Choosing to cite the leftwing writer and journalist chris hedges is a curious thing in itself, of course, in light of the movie s refusal to confront the neocon adventure. American sniper is one of the most powerful war movies hollywood has ever produced, namely for the way it portrayed life after the war, through the vessel of a modern story. This study, i find, makes my research paper more reliable as a source for trauma and ptsd more so on how ptsd is treated rather than the ptsd itself. Our website is a unique platform where students can share their papers in a matter of giving an example of the work to be done. Thats why for me the most powerfully poignant scene from any movie is from 2009s the hurt locker directed by kathryn bigelow and starring jeremy renner. Kathryn bigelows blazingly powerful action movie the hurt locker. The story is told in linear form with some flashbacks. After the hurt locker which is without question the most exciting and least ideological movie yet made about the war in iraq, everyone will remember renners name. It is a littleknown mental health problem that is poorly understood.
When a new sergeant, james, takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amid violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, sanborn and eldridge, by recklessly plunging them into a. The film follows a team of army explosive ordnance disposal technicians in iraq, where they wage a seemingly endless war against the preferred. She made a great movie after the hurt locker, too zero dark thirty was 2012s best movie. With jeremy renner, anthony mackie, brian geraghty, guy pearce. Dunkirk, hacksaw ridge, and the many faces of ptsd drew. According to the bbc, the whole notion of a hurt locker has been around for years and has been used to apply to hurts ranging from war wounds to sports injuries. Heres why the hurt locker is the worst war movie of all. Reliving the hurt locker woodruff health sciences center. What the hurt locker actually says about the us, its soldiers, and iraq duration.
And by the time you get to my age, maybe its only one or two things. The most powerful war movie scene ever took place in a cereal aisle. If youre not a regular at the holiday inn or stopped reading so called news papers, head on over to usa today for a piece on veterans opining about the hurt locker including troy from bouhammer and yours truly. Film post traumatic stress disorder ptsd libguides at. Now, as three fearless bomb technicians take on the most dangerous job in baghdad, its only a matter of time before one of them gets sent to the hurt locker. Standing in an aisle at the grocery store, he stares for a long time at endless rows of cereal boxes, overwhelmed by the magnitude of a mundane choice.
Many film critics and awards voters have praised the hurt locker s depiction of the u. Sergeant james shot eldridge on purpose to save him from ptsd we see the mental health of eldridge eroding throughout the movie, starting with his guilt over not preventing the ied attack in the opening sequence. While watching this film on amazon, various facts about the movie would scroll across the screen. The film was nominated for nine academy awards and won six. Hurt locker is an astounding film nominated for the oscar award for best picture, director, screenplay and original score. Theyre out in the hot desert, the pressure is high, the guys dont get along. How hollywood wrongly portray post traumatic stress. Jul 02, 2016 heres a breakdown of everything the hurt locker gets wrong and why it is without a doubt the worst iraq war movie of all time. The portrayal of ptsd among combat veterans in movies can help us to.
The hurt locker and ptsd post traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that runs through our military system and is often vastly overlooked. Thank you for your service was an opportunity to tell that story the coming. It can be traced back to the times of the civil war and has been given names like shellshocked syndrome, ptsd, soldiers heart, and combat fatigue. The writer of the paper addiction and the hurt locker analyzes the movie the hurt locker in which the overriding theme is that james is an addict. There is a common misconception that a soldier can only develop ptsd after he or she returns home, but thats not true. One out of every three troops has been diagnosed with ptsd and less than 40% have found or looked for help. The two war movies up for oscars this sunday are as far apart as bugs bunny is from baghdad. Locking their pain within, as if concealing it in a secret locker, the characters are to suffer from the ptsd for the rest of their lives. The most powerful war movie scene ever took place in a. Voltage pictures grosvenor park media first light pictures kingsgate firm.
How hollywood wrongly portray post traumatic stress disorders. Boals script, like the film itself, has received considerable praise from critics. The report 910 this was a really good year for legalthrillers and the report was the cream of the crop. The soldier vividly displays war as a drug that needs to be taken by. Students looking for free, topnotch essay and term paper samples on various topics. Eod soldiers view the hurt locker article the united. This film follows three women veterans healing their ptsd through. The hurt locker, directed by kathryn bigelow essay 1070 words 5 pages. In the films case, wartorn iraq is the hurt locker. Kathryn bigelow trumps liberal efforts with the most insightful iraq film yet. The hurt locker reflects a much broader and thorough perspective of skills and contexts that, ironically, shape an image of intelligence that is far more. Within this paper, we address the following questions. Nov 04, 20 how hollywood wrongly portray post traumatic stress disorders in films 4 nov the portrayal of posttraumatic stress disorder ptsd in films, much like our understanding of mental health and how we view it, has changed as medical knowledge grew and breakthroughs were made. Nominated and won for best picture, this award winning movie captured the attending of many film makers and audiences for boldly demoing the rough world of war and how a soldier trades with the horrors of war.
Thompson is wearing the protective bomb suit and advancing toward the bomb, while sgt. The film is about three men who makeup an explosives ordinance team. It can be traced back to the times of the civil war and has been given names like. The hurt locker and ptsd post traumatic stress disorder is an. And the older you get, the fewer things you really love. Annotated bibliography trauma, depression, and ptsd.
Veterans say exaggerations abound in hurt locker the hurt locker has been hailed by critics for its gritty portrayal of army bomb disposal troops. Mar 01, 2010 when a filmmaker gets that many details wrong, its hard to believe she got the war right. Jul 10, 2009 the hurt locker isnt an iraq movieits a war movie, assuming its place in the long trail of that goodbad genre going back to john wayne and ernie pyle. The hurt locker, which takes place in 2004 it was filmed mostly in jordan, depicts men who risk their lives every day on the streets of baghdad and in the desert beyond, and who are too. Had i not seen the hurt locker 2008 and zero dark thirty 2012, watching the graphic deaths of women and children in war would have been even more horrific. American sniper gave audiences a brutal view of life after war. Mark boal breaks down one of the hurt lockers most pivotal moments. Treating trauma in the body and the ptsd experience. The hurt locker was born of boals embed with an army eod unit, which gives the film a further air of authority and authenticitybased. With the exception of the hurt locker, most movies reinforce the image of. Heres a breakdown of everything the hurt locker gets wrong and why it is without a doubt the worst iraq war movie of all time. Reliving the hurt locker in the movie the hurt locker, sergeant william james comes home from serving in the middle east and struggles to readjust to the relative calm of everyday life.
Sadly, if movies have to compete with cnn, then we are sure to see more over the top violence in movies to come. But protecting the public isnt easy when theres no room for error, and every second spent dismantling a bomb is another second spent flirting with death. As a matter of fact, the abovementioned means that peaceful life becomes impossible for the lead character, the only survivor in the battle, forcing him to leave the realm of the family and enter the battlefield once again. In the movie renner portrays an army explosive ordinance disposal eod soldier serving in iraq whose prowess in defusing bombs, booby traps and all forms of explosive are second to. Mar 05, 2010 the hurt locker director kathryn bigelow on set in jordan.
War is a drug, a quotation mark that this film successfully reflects in its narrative and subject. The most relevant movie precursor to thank you for your service, an earnest and powerful drama about iraq veterans returning to kansas, is not the hurt locker. The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction for war is a drug. This 2009 film is a pretty brutal tale of a team of army soldiers tasked with disabling bombs. The hurt locker essay example topics and well written. Oct 23, 2017 for me that section kept getting longer and longer until it was almost an entire other act of the movie.
Mar 03, 2010 but the movie soon careens into the tedious and the absurd. In this paper i will discuss post traumatic stress disorder, its signs, symptom and effects on culture as portrayed in the movie, american sniper. The widowmaker 2002, the hurt locker 2008, zero dark thirty 2012, and detroit 2017. With a name like the hurt locker, you know youre headed for a rough rideand sorry, folks, not in the fifty shades kind of way. As most of you know by now the movie the hurt locker won the oscar for movie of the year, and this makes me very angry. Inside, your hurt locker is the place you bury your anguish. Another overbearing feeling one will experience when watching the movie is the stark familiarity with the film the hurt locker. Sanborn anthony mackie, and specialist owen eldridge brian geraghty. The outside definition is that a hurt locker is anywhere you go to find pain. The producer is being penalized after negative emails he wrote about avatar to academy members came to. Dec 22, 2012 the hurt locker official trailer the hurt locker is a 2008 american war film about a threeman explosive ordnance disposal bomb disposal team during the iraq war.
The hurt locker opens with a title which frames war as addictive, if not hallucinogenic. More recent movies such as the hurt locker 2008 and in the valley of elah 2007 ascribe certain kinds of dehumanizing behavior to posttraumatic stress. The portrayal of post traumatic stress disorder ptsd in films, much like our understanding of mental health and how we view it, has changed as medical knowledge grew and breakthroughs were made. Treating trauma in the body and the ptsd experience hurt locker war as a drug and the experience of ptsd. Heres why the hurt locker is the worst war movie of all time. Post traumatic stress disorder and the movie american. Mar 09, 2010 from coast to coast, the recent discussions about the hurt locker illustrate the audiences varying and conflicting needs regarding works of fiction.
Sep 12, 2009 not good a film that seems to divide opinion. The movie is about three work forces who makeup an explosives regulation squad. Surprised at the backlash this movie has gotten on r movies. All topics all writers digital newspaper archive facebook twitter.
Jul 23, 2019 because of the horrible experience that the characters in the hurt locker had, the resulting acute posttraumatic stress disorder comes as a fee for surviving through this hell. I know, it is great or at least that was the narrative in 200910, when bigelows war thriller about a bomb disposal squad in iraq stormed through awards season as the little movie that could and did. The hurt locker is set in postinvasion iraq, so no surprise. A person who suffers ptsd also exhibits strange behavior like avoidance of certain events, locations or anything that is deemed to bring back memories that trigger semblance of the original traumatic. Covering a wide range of genres, her films include near dark 1987, point break 1991, strange days 1995, k19. The film earned near universal acclaim from critics, who praised bigelows directing, the cast, writing, and action sequences. It can be traced back to the times of the civil war and has been given names like shellshocked syndrome, ptsd, soldiers heart. The scene in the hurt locker where staff sergeant james is unable to remove the bomb vest from the iraqi civilian gets an honorable mention. More than just a blowemup extravaganza, journalist reed johnson suggests that bigelows film shakes up traditional ideas of what men are and how they act. The hurt locker, written by mark boal and directed by kathryn bigelow. Reliving the hurt locker woodruff health sciences center emory. Ill nail my colours to the mast right away by saying that i didnt think it was up to much.
As we head towards the oscars, avatar and the hurt locker have both been scooping up awards, but kathryn bigelows bombdisposal drama took a. It refers to the physical trauma of being in close proximity, time after. The soldier vividly displays war as a drug that needs to be taken by all soldiers at all times of their lives for their survival. Americans love movies featuring angry, violent men doing angry, violent things while still at war, or while dealing with the effects of it. Advertising we will write a custom essay on the hurt locker. The hurt locker the inhuman aspect of invasion and related sociopolitical issues is a popular theme among renowned movie directors. The irs is slated to send out its first paper checks to millions more. Oct 10, 2008 the hurt locker producer nicolas chartier banned from oscar ceremony celebration mar 2, 2010.
The hurt locker is a 2008 iraq war film directed by kathryn bigelow and written by mark boal that focuses on members of a us army eod team as they go about the business of disarming ieds throughout the country during a yearlong deployment. Post traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that runs through our military system and is often vastly overlooked. The very first bit of knowledge amazon decided to impart on the viewers of this film were the meaning of the words hurt locker. The hurt locker is not a drama about a makebelieve event. Addiction and the hurt locker research paper example. His story caught the interest of washington post reporter david finkel, who wrote a nonfiction account of. Resick who teaches at boston university and is involved with ptsd treatment for the va. The hurt locker cast will james jeremy renner if youre looking for a war hero whos perfect and 100 percent sympatheticyou know, a white knight and all thatkeep looking, because staff sergeant william james is not that guy. Unlike in other films and books about war that you may have come across, theres not a lot of moralizing or agonizing over questions like is this war just. During the iraq war, a sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work. An intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
The characters also deal with psychological issues that come with the loss experienced in battle. This is a movie about an ongoing war that has affected millions, in which 100,000 americans are still serving. In the movie the hurt locker, sergeant william james comes home from serving in the. Additional materials, such as the best quotations, synonyms and word definitions to make your writing easier are also offered here. The hurt locker is a riveting, suspenseful portrait of the courage under fire of the militarys unrecognized heroes. Sep 19, 2012 what the hurt locker actually says about the us, its soldiers, and iraq duration.
Dec 05, 2012 the hurt locker and ptsd post traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder that runs through our military system and is often vastly overlooked. Shahjahan english 21 film analysis 12 march 2014 health care issues presented in the movie. The hurt locker also opens with a quote by chris hedges expanding on the same theme. The hurt locker discussion movies and films flm 334. Hurt locker takes producers guild prize movies empire.