During class last week we got the opportunity to watch The Hurt Locker. I normally don’t watch movies on war but this film was intense and caught my attention the minute it began. Sgt. James is one of the main characters who keeps you wondering what dumb thing will he do next or what harm is he going to cause his team while completing a mission. According to “The Hurt Locker and The Contemporary War Film” this movie depicts a certain characteristic that we don’t often see in war films, which is thrill seekers. I have seen maybe three war films, and Sgt. James' character showed a great example of thrill seeking.
Sgt. James was a member of a bomb squad in Baghdad, where he had to defuse bombs. His team consisted of Sgt. Sanborn and Sgt. Eldridge, who both felt like James was a reckless man and lived for the thrill, which they weren’t wrong at all. On the first mission they received together James came up with a stall tactic that couldn’t give Sanborn a clear view on his position. Right then Sanborn began to dislike Sgt. James because he felt like he didn’t follow protocol and he didn’t care about the safety of his squad. As the movie went on, Sanborn began to realize that the deception he had for James was wrong and that he did care about his team and others. In one scene James asks Eldridge for some juice and ended up giving the juice to Sanborn. In another scene James thought a boy that he befriended was being used as a human bomb and he cried over the body before taking out the bombs and taking the body away. 
His compassion for others still didn’t overshadow the fact that he loved the rush of defusing bombs. From a movie review an editor talks about the quote in the beginning of the movie, "war is a drug," and I agree with the quote. In one scene after a bomb went off killing and injuring many people, Sgt. James felt like the bombers were still around watching the scene unfold. So James ordered Sanborn and Eldridge to follow him and look for the attackers, which got Eldridge shot in the leg and sent home. James wasn’t able to diffuse a bomb so he went looking for a thrill somewhere else, which got one of his team members injured. In another scene James is ordered to diffuse a bomb that was in the trunk of a car that was set on fire. The car could have blown up but James didn’t care because he needed the rush to feel complete.
Sgt. James kept triggers of the all the bombs he’s ever defused because he felt like it was amazing to hold something that could have killed him. At the end of the film it shows Sgt. James in a grocery store trying to decide what cereal to buy, something so simple like choosing a box of cereal was hard for James to do because he is so used to doing something much more difficult like defusing bombs. Back at home he talks to his wife about defusing bombs and he feels as if another bomb squad needs him. James wasn’t used to the everyday life of being a normal person, so he went back on a tour where he could receive his drug, that rush of war.
Every soldier goes through something different. Sanborn for example, was ready to go home to find his significant other to settle down with. Eldridge was scared to die so he had to go to therapy everyday to try to overcome that fear. James loved the rush of almost dying.
Do you feel as if war is a drug, based on the film The Hurt Locker?
I do feel that war could be like a drug. War cause your adrenaline to rush just as drugs can do. Some people want more and more of war. I think to Sgt. James war and diffusing bombs was just the same. I think you were completely correct in saying that soldiers are normally not thrill seeking but Sgt. James was. I also think just as a drug people can react differently to war and the battle field.
ReplyDeleteI personally do think that war is a drug especially for some people. War can cause your adrenaline to skyrocket. Most soldiers in war get done what they have to do to survive and Sgt. James did not do that. Sgt. James did his job and more, which is what they show in "The Hurt Locker". Drugs can be addictive and to Sgt. James diffusing bombs is addictive because of the thrill and the feeling of accomplishment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Candice the war is a drug. Adrenaline is a source of energy that can make a person do things they would not try without the adrenaline. Sgt. James was a soldier who went the extra mile and did extra things. As showed in the end of the movie he had to go back to diffusing bombs he could not stay away.
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