Plus, the average American moviegoer absolutely does not understand these war movies as “honest.” He experiences them as patriotic, with the “honesty” simply there to show the tough conditions our Heroes in Uniform face. Take Black Hawk Down, for example (incidentally one of the most boring things ever put to celluloid): even though it’s ostensibly an anti-war film, that very much is not the feeling you’re left with at the end.
The only people who really experience American war movies as “honest” are professional film critics who confuse masturbatory self-flagellation for real political action.
Plus, the average American moviegoer absolutely does not understand these war movies as “honest.” He experiences them as patriotic, with the “honesty” simply there to show the tough conditions our Heroes in Uniform face. Take Black Hawk Down, for example (incidentally one of the most boring things ever put to celluloid): even though it’s ostensibly an anti-war film, that very much is not the feeling you’re left with at the end.
The only people who really experience American war movies as “honest” are professional film critics who confuse masturbatory self-flagellation for real political action.