Hurt Locker
Connor McLaughlin
Mr. Rand
Civic and Cultural Literacy II
12 October 2011
Hurt Locker: An Addiction To War
The Hurt Locker can give almost anybody the nerves with its numerous suspenseful moments. But what lies inside all the tension filled scenes is a much deeper meaning. Kathryn Bigelow stresses an important message in this Oscar-winning epic. Although the film depicts the gruesome horrors of war, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker is not an anti-war film. The Hurt Locker is a film about James’s addiction to war because it shows his desire tension risk filled scenes, his lack of resentment for the war, and his inability to integrate himself back into “normal society”
It is clear from the beginning of the movie that it was going to be filled with intense tension-filled scenes of diffusing bombs. This only escalated with the Introduction of Sergeant James as the new bomb tech. One can tell immediately that James is an adrenaline junkie that is willing to take risks. It is evident in all of the bomb scenes that Bravo Company encounters. In the first scene he refuses to let the bot diffuse the bomb because he would rather do it himself. His love for high risk is intensified even more by throwing down a smoke can and the face-off he had with the cab driver. His love for risk is verified again when he diffuse the car bomb with no bomb suit on. Even the small things that he does like taking down the artillery shield from his window confirm his love for risk and lack of concern for his life. All of these scenes confirm that James is an adrenaline junkie who loves putting his life in danger. He seems to love the fact that every time he straps on that bomb-suit he is in a life or death situation. This is evident in the scene where James explains that he has a crate of triggers that have almost killed him. He seems to love the fact that there have been so many opportunities where he could have died and he keeps each trigger as a memento for each
Mr. Rand
Civic and Cultural Literacy II
12 October 2011
Hurt Locker: An Addiction To War
The Hurt Locker can give almost anybody the nerves with its numerous suspenseful moments. But what lies inside all the tension filled scenes is a much deeper meaning. Kathryn Bigelow stresses an important message in this Oscar-winning epic. Although the film depicts the gruesome horrors of war, Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker is not an anti-war film. The Hurt Locker is a film about James’s addiction to war because it shows his desire tension risk filled scenes, his lack of resentment for the war, and his inability to integrate himself back into “normal society”
It is clear from the beginning of the movie that it was going to be filled with intense tension-filled scenes of diffusing bombs. This only escalated with the Introduction of Sergeant James as the new bomb tech. One can tell immediately that James is an adrenaline junkie that is willing to take risks. It is evident in all of the bomb scenes that Bravo Company encounters. In the first scene he refuses to let the bot diffuse the bomb because he would rather do it himself. His love for high risk is intensified even more by throwing down a smoke can and the face-off he had with the cab driver. His love for risk is verified again when he diffuse the car bomb with no bomb suit on. Even the small things that he does like taking down the artillery shield from his window confirm his love for risk and lack of concern for his life. All of these scenes confirm that James is an adrenaline junkie who loves putting his life in danger. He seems to love the fact that every time he straps on that bomb-suit he is in a life or death situation. This is evident in the scene where James explains that he has a crate of triggers that have almost killed him. He seems to love the fact that there have been so many opportunities where he could have died and he keeps each trigger as a memento for each