does not present torture as a silver bullet that led to bin Laden it presents torture as the ignorant alternative to that silver bullet. And that is a defense of barbarism as entertainment, and as the law of the land.Īckerman calls Zero Dark Thirty’s torture scenes “arguably the best and most important part of the movie”: If it lies to promote the efficacy of torture, it has a very real agenda.
#WHY ZERO DARK THIRTY MEANING MOVIE#
Bigelow cannot argue that her movie has no agenda, or duck behind the excuse that this is a “movie” and not a “documentary”. It is illegal because it is evil and because it provides unreliable and often false leads, not real ones. But actual torture, authorized illegally by war criminals, is not fiction and is far too grave a matter to be exploited as a plot device. Yes, it makes for a more thrilling ride if we start with a torture scene in a movie drama. They pretend that the law allows torture, they violate the historical record, and they make war crimes more likely in the future. And lies do have an agenda, whatever Bigelow says.
If Bigelow is calling torture “harsh tactics” she is complicit in its defense. But if it portrays torture as integral to the killing of Osama bin Laden, it is a lie. I have not seen the movie yet, so I have to rely on descriptions of its plot. I wanted a boots-on-the-ground experience.” program.” Still, Bigelow said, “the film doesn’t have an agenda, and it doesn’t judge. “We’re trying to make the point that waterboarding and other harsh tactics were part of the C.I.A.
“It’s a movie, not a documentary,” Boal said. to the hideout in Pakistan, was not discovered through waterboarding.
According to several official sources, including Dianne Feinstein, the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the identity of bin Laden’s courier, whose trail led the C.I.A. Bigelow maintains that everything in the film is based on first-hand accounts, but the waterboarding scene, which is likely to stir up controversy, appears to have strayed from real life. operatives the suspect eventually surrenders information that helps lead to bin Laden. The film includes wrenching scenes of a terrorist suspect being waterboarded and subjected to other forms of torture by C.I.A. Bigelow constructs a movie upon a grotesque lie: Would this be an Obama hagiography just before the election? Isn’t that what Hollywood’s about? When the director of the magnificent movie, The Hurt Locker, decided to make a movie about the raid on Abottabad, the Republican right got twitchy. Below are our posts examining the inclusion of torture in the plot of the film Zero Dark Thirty, including a much commentary from Andrew, his review of the film, and coverage of the film’s accuracy and how much involvement the CIA may have had in its making.