It took me a long time to get around to watching The Hurt Locker. I had wanted to see it from the first time I saw the trailer. Unfortunately, life took over, and I missed it while it was in theatres. Then, because I knew it would affect me emotionally, I actually avoided it. At the end of the day, or on weekends, I wanted light fare. After a while, I felt like I was over thinking the whole thing. So, I when the free time presented itself, watched the movie, and I’m glad I did.
I didn’t become the harrowed emotional mess that I feared, but I was affected. First off, the movie is really good. Good movies are always worth the time no matter what your mood. I know those are almost empty words when writing a review or critique, but I like to keep things simple. This movie is really good. The aspect of the movie that most surprised me was the treatment of war as an addiction. I hadn’t ever thought of it that way, but it makes sense. We often hear about the difficulty of adjustment to civilian life that could be one of the motivations for a soldier to desire to go back. Wanting to go back to something familiar. However, I’ve never been presented with the idea that some soldiers have trouble readjusting because they want to go back. Because war is the ultimate adrenaline rush.
I’m struggling with what to say about this movie. What else to focus on. There are so many layers and pieces. A movie like this stays with you. I’m sure that if I watch it again, I’d get something else out of it. I’m positive that as I get older and observe more wars (I’m afraid there will always be wars, and I hope to be fortunate enough to observe them only through newspapers) how I relate to the movie will change. So, I guess the thing right now is to be honest, and admit that the movie left me pensive. I have more thinking to do before I’ll feel that I have some writing to do.
