Portrayal of War in the Media

[Chu]

I honestly don't think much about war. I'm not in favor nor against it. I've always seen it as a necessary evil, I guess.

Anyway, lately there has been an advertisement on Youtube for Operation Homefront. These ads make use of the song Love Vigilantes by Iron and Wine; and you can listen to the full song here.

What you may find interesting is that the advertisement cuts out the fifth stanza of the song: a very important point in which it is revealed that the man coming home is dead. He died in action.

However, there are many interpretations on this stanza alone. Apparently, in the original version, the wife's eyes "were sore" - from crying. In this version, however, her eyes "did soar" - as in, looking up. Now, "did soar" could be interpreted as looking up to the heavens or to her husband who just walked in the door. The latter of the two could simply imply that the letter she received was incorrect, and he in fact did live. Because of these very different interpretations some still debate on whether it is actually an anti-war song or not.


All of this debate reminds me of a very good book that I read about a year ago: Johnny Got His Gun. It is an anti-war novel which follows a man in his journey only after he lost his arms, legs, and most of his face in battle. He had literally no contact with anyone, other than the faint vibrations of movements around him. No sight, no sense of smell, no ears to listen with, or tongue with which to speak - yet he was still living.


To think of these - and many, many other references - as such beautiful works of art are all in the name of peace rather than war; and to think that they are often censored or hidden to the general public, is certainly interesting. Fighting in a war is portrayed as brave and heroic; and certainly worth more merit than things like teaching or healing.

Many get very upset when these messages of peace are altered to be messages supporting war. I understand that, but I recognize art as something open to interpretation, rather than set in stone. And while the intended message of something may very well be anti-war, I don't know... I don't see much wrong with using it to say something else. I guess I'm more attached to what art is on the whole, rather than the meanings of various pieces of it.


What do you all think about this? War, the portrayal of it, altering things such as songs or quotes to change the meaning. Hell, if not for those advertisements, false as they were, I would have never looked up the original song used in them. I would have never seen the original, intended meaning. So such a thing can't be all bad, can it? Just some food for thought.

[Elrakis]

Wow, heavy subject.

I know of that "Johnny Got His Gun" story. My father had read that book, and he told me about it when I was little. I also know that there's a movie based on the book. I've got it, haven't seen it yet. I also think that Metallica used footage of that movie for a music video... not sure, though.

Anyways, I am totally anti-war and against all positive portrayals of it. In that sense, I am also against altering art/songs/text/whatever for the sake of promoting songs. But in general, I'm not against the alteration/adaptation of an exsisting piece of work in order to change it's message. I'm just against the general idea of promoting war. In other cases, to alter a song for example, in order to give it another meaning or what ever, could in some way be making a new piece of art on something old, allready exsist. Hmm... hope you understand me. Wish I had a good example right now to explain my point, but I don't. Will let you know if I figure something out, though.

[Chu]

I understand, no worries.

You should definitely read it. I've never been completely anti- or pro-war - too indecisive for that - but I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it certainly gave me a new perspective on things. You'd never see a book like that promoted in the media, and especially in schools. It's juts not "light reading."

Ah, you reminded me that I never covered my step-dad. He used to be a soldier... I don't remember his actual title, but he was part of a special tasks group of some sort and spent a lot of his time serving in Africa. To this day, he still has night terrors about his experiences; and I remember that when he first met me, he was afraid to get too close to me or touch me... Well, not necessarily afraid. It just made him very uncomfortable because in Africa, adults weren't the only people shoving guns in his face. He had to kill children too. So I've seen first-hand how war affects people, and in some of the worst possible ways. He's a very sensitive person at heart, so he was deeply scarred by those events. I think I'd be more concerned if he weren't.

[Elrakis]

I will read it one day, I promise. It's on my "books to read"-list.

How come you haven't really decided on where to stand about war? Do you believe that it might justify the cause in some cases?

What you told me about your step-dad reminded me of my cousin. He served in the US Army, in Iraq, out in the dust and sand, shooting and crawling. He has told me about of lot of stuff that he did and have to go through, but what speaks most about his war experience is how he is now. He has a severe phobia of arabic people, even people who might look like arabs. Once a muslim man (I figured by his clothes and his hat and beard) stepped into a public area, I think it was a train station, and my cousin had a panic attack. He began to scream and act irrationally, trying to take cover. So yeah, war sure affects people. :/

[Chu]

I don't like to touch on war too much because it is such a sensitive subject to many, and there really is no morally right answer to it, in my book. If I were to be blunt about it though, I would say that war is a necessary evil. War opens the eyes of many to various types of social and political discourse; and in some cases, those subjects may never be brought to the light otherwise. It also fuels our ambitions in some ways, giving us that enemy that we're always looking for. Without some sort of enemy or threat, we wouldn't make technological advances as fast as we do now.

Yes, it really is terrible. I wish that veterans got more help than they do now; although some may be like my step-dad: too proud to take the help even when they need it. I understand him, though. I was put on medication for PTSD for something entirely different, but those panic attacks? They are real. It makes you feel absolutely helpless, and almost inhuman. To add the already inhuman things they had to deal with on top of it... I don't blame him one bit for not wanting to be singled out and treated differently for something like that. He just wants to live normally.

[Elrakis]

To me there's just a dark side of war, nothing else, even if it brings inventions and other things with its advancement and development. To me there is no such thing as a necessary evil, but as you know, that's just my personal opinion. War is an interesting thing to analyze though, and a subject than often occur in my stories. It's a good medium, sometimes, for story telling or for the sake of pointing out som morality... ah, you get me, I guess.

[killerkitty]

Ah, a very interesting subject you bring up here.
I've never actually met anyone who has been to war, but I can imagine it must be a horrible experience. Have you seen Watership Down? It is said to be an analogy of civil war.

[Chu]

I understand, Elarkis. When it comes to themes of struggle, sacrifice, and humanity (as in, showing humanity - not our existence) then I think that war is an incredible device to use in writing.


Kitty, that's kind of surprising, honestly. I can see it happening though - just seems distant from me, I guess. No, I've never seen that. May have to look into it.

[TemaPup]

War is indeed a heavy subject to think about. I hate how black and white war is, though. I understand I'm biased, so one could say, but my thoughts are clear and I know they're what I believe in.

As a military brat my whole life, I've seen nearly every aspect of war. As a young child, I hated the military. I didn't know much about how war worked, but I blamed the military for taking my dad. I also blamed myself, my mother, everything. But mostly myself. See, my dad was Navy. (Mom was Air Force JROTC for a time.) Turns out he didn't do crap, but I knew that I was minus one parent and there was an empty place in my mom's closet where his uniform had sat. The man was eventually kicked out for his horrid ways.

Soon after, dad number two came in. Piece of absolute...insert insults. Anyways, he broke law after law, nearly killed me and my youngest sister, his own daughter. We later got her out of the situation. He only ever gave me two things: A fierce protectiveness of my family, and a severe hatred of alcohol, nearly a phobia. (He'd force beer down my throat because I asked a lot of questions.)

Soon after, 9/11. This really got things started. I was very young, not even in school yet. It was after the first time my family had taken me away from protective custody. I didn't understand, but every day I'd see the tributes, for months on end. It scared me so much, even where I lived in the deep south. I respected the flag so very much, and it only grew with time.

Before I entered elementary school, my current step father, dad number 3, came around. He was army. Served again and again in the Middle East. Iraq, Afganistan. He made me so proud, all the time.

In fifth grade, he stood beside me while I was on Safety Patrol. I was quickly added to Flag Duty. Every day, sometimes several times a day, I would take down and fold our nation's flag, carrying it inside with the highest honor, putting it away in its proper place. More than once I was soaked to the bone taking our flag down when it rained.

As I grew, I saw my uncle die at the hands of war. I learned what war meant. I saw my sister, Ashi, go off to Korea as a Marine. One of her close friends went with her, as an Army tanker. We never hear from them.

My twin is JROTC, and she's planning to also go Marines.

Now, this may all seem trivial. But my life was controlled by the military, and I was kept safe. I knew that the military was doing the correct thing. I don't support the government the way I support the military. I've gone through boot camps. I've seen the images. I've seen what happens to civilians caught in the middle.

I don't support needless war, like Iraq. We stayed too long. People DIED because we were stubborn. I support the military, who save and protect and serve. All through our history, the military has done their best to preserve freedom.