early week soapbox notification
It has been a while since I’ve seen a movie that plunders into each cavern of my soul and causes me to truly dwell in thought. After today’s mundane setlist, I really appreciated tonight and what it had to offer.
So today: doctor’s appointment, prescription, Starbucks with reading. Being able to sit down and sip a caramel latté with my present book was rather consoling, although my current state of dreariness won’t totally cease until Sunday when I will return to Tech and also to Abigail.
The rest of my day was filled with wasting the hours that were appropriated to me.
Tonight I watched Saving Private Ryan for the first time. The movie is self-shuddering and ‘fearfully and wonderfully made.’ Movies based on American wars tend to fail in their description of the brutality that both sides faced constantly. War movies often glorify the ends while neglecting the actual means necessary, in any war, to accomplish them. I appreciated the fact that Speilberg did his homework, per se, in the production and direction of this film. World War II is a defining moment, a not-so-long-ago defining moment, in America’s history.
Many people are afraid in recent times to join the armed forces in fear of having to witness and engage in combat. However, combat of today is remote and robotic. Reconnaissance, intelligence, and scouting highlights the tactics used in each given case. Bombings are standard routine before any ground invasion. The troops of WWII commonly had no such resource before an attack. War today is not the war of yesterday. And the war of yesterday is not the war of yester-year. But the American cause for war has remained very constant - to protect those under the injust fist of oppression and tyranny and to defend our nation, and its people, from any attack that could compromise its security.
The Second Gulf War (Iraq War etc etc) has been duly justified by the Bush administration. America stepped into a Middle Eastern region that often despises americanism and other such forms of socialization, but America has done this nation, Iraq, a favor in ridding it of a viral pest that scourged away at its citizens. Hussein’s ‘reign of terror’ was real. Perhaps not as evident as Hitler’s or Stalin’s, but Saddam had in mind to even further threaten his own people and nations opposing him, particularly the USA. Weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq: several mobile chemical trucks were located late spring ‘03 that had clearly been used as testing facilities; over twenty Soviet fighter jets, fully armed, were discovered buried in the sand (you could say “embalmed”) in an Iraqi desert in the summer of ‘03 (search my summer blogs for the news links). However, the liberal American media will not report on such events because it would conflict with their interests to subvert the opinion of the American people against a president that has performed amazingly under a pressure few other leaders have faced.
Additionally, our nation is now faced with character issues that did not exist in the era of WWII. Moral definitions have been altered and tailored to make people feel good about themselves instead of providing a discipline to better their self. Weight loss programs put the blame on fatty and high-sodium foods while common sense would cry for a balanced diet and regular exercise. Teen media is now absorbed with behavoirs that promote haste, material satisfaction, and promiscuity. I could say more and provide more details but our lack of self-control in these post Y2K times is obvious. The concept of citizenship is now a definition of birth and naturalization and no longer includes mention of community or civil service.
In brief, Saving Private Ryan has motivated me. I like movies that motivate me. Syllogism would say that I like Saving Private Ryan. I say…I like Saving Private Ryan.