Truth in Hollywood

As we approach Oscar time here in the States, there is a lot of buzz that is continuing to surround one of the frontrunning movies for Best Picture (and Best Director) which is the Iraq War drama, "The Hurt Locker". The film follows members of an Explosive Ordanance Disposal (EOD) group as the close out the final days of their current tour in Iraq. Without going into political discussions about whether the war was the right or wrong thing to do, the film chooses to focus on the lives of the three main characters as they try to survive one day to the next in the hope of returning home alive at the end of their tour. While the film has garnered a great deal of accolades from critics and award galas, the reviews from actual soldiers has been a bit mixed and some have accused the movie of distorting the truth. Big surprise there.

If there's one thing that I can say about Hollywood its that although it does successfully show the truth on occasion, most of what we see in films is not the truth. It is one person's vision of a story and that's what it should remain but many people don't look at it that way. I've written numerous times about how many turn to movies to learn about the world. It's not surprising, it's an easier and more entertaining way to learn about things we're interested in learning about and it doesn't require a lot of effort on our part. But if we were to believe everything we see in the movies I don't know if we'd have a more well-rounded personality or a dulled one. That's not to knock Hollywood, I think that on occasion, despite the recent penchant for remakes or "re-imagined" films and shows, we are still seeing the occasional film which depicts true events in a fairly accurate and honest light.

I think one of the inherent difficulties in film is to capture the truth in just two hours of time. If you're talking about a two hour event then perhaps you can show it but if you're talking about depicting the essence of a character or of their experiences over an extended period of time then it becomes a bit harder. Cinematic liberties will obviously have to be taken and some degree of dramatization will have to occur and that's when many people have a problem. It's particularly true in the case of films dealing with events in the recent past as opposed to a longer time ago. I remember when "Saving Private Ryan" came out there was a great deal of discussion over whether or not the depiction of the battle on the Omaha Beach was accurate or not. And while the ferocity of the battle was certainly on par with the recollection of many veterans of that battle, the timescale was shortened tremendously. After all, the search for Private Ryan in that film didn't take place on the beaches of Normandy but well after the depiction of D-Day. So then how could you show all of the important events that took place over the course of a day?

The simple answer is that you can't. A film depicting events in real-time or with exacting detail never do well. The Pearl Harbor film from the 1970's "Tora! Tora! Tora!" was chided for it's very dry depiction of the events leading up to the attack and the actual attack itself. Though many appreciated the efforts at portraying how events actually occured many critics and audience members felt the movie was too plodding for it's own good and was negative in the sense that it showed a darker chapter in our nation's history without an American victory. Contrast that with the Michael Bay version of "Pearl Harbor" which showed that had Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett been around at the time, they would have single-handedly won the war for the Allies. But many fans found the action entertaining and the story passable and it did decent business at the box office.

So where do we draw the line for Hollywood? Obviously the studios and producers would care more for what will sell tickets and help them to recoup their costs. If it comes down to a choice between the truth and dramatization, I know that dramatization would win out every time. With "The Hurt Locker" there's no doubt that some of what was shown in the film is meant to help move the story along and develop the characters. But then it's also wrong to assume that this is the complete and unvarnished truth of what life is like in Iraq for EOD technicians. But then that's what much of the audience will believe because we rarely know any better. Take the case of "Top Gun". That movie also had a heavy dose of fiction but the lifestyle and the action portrayed helped to increase enlistment in the Navy by nearly 500 percent. It may not have been the whole truth but it certainly helped the Department of Defense and the Navy meet enlistment numbers at that time.