After much contemplation and postponement, I finally mustered the courage to watch the movie 'Zero Dark Thirty' a few days ago. Of course I had my face fully covered with my hands during all the scenes depicting torture (excuse me, I mean Enhanced Interrogation Techniques).
So I can safely say that I missed the true 'essence' of the movie but nevertheless I loved it. My great love and fascination for the CIA (and perhaps fear too) prevents me from making elaborative comments about the contents of the movie but there are some abstract opinions I would like to share about this great movie.
Moving on to the main character- Maya is in a great emotional battle with herself as she does not have much faith in the interrogation techniques carried out and the effect of them on her is shatterring. However her efforts to change them are thwarted initially as she was not influential enough. She also struggles to establish herself and gain acceptance in the man's world of criminal investigations, fight against terrorism and the likewise. However through her conscientiousness and intellignece she manges to collect the eveidence that eventually lead to the discovery of the most wanted man- OBL.
So I can safely say that I missed the true 'essence' of the movie but nevertheless I loved it. My great love and fascination for the CIA (and perhaps fear too) prevents me from making elaborative comments about the contents of the movie but there are some abstract opinions I would like to share about this great movie.
Moving on to the main character- Maya is in a great emotional battle with herself as she does not have much faith in the interrogation techniques carried out and the effect of them on her is shatterring. However her efforts to change them are thwarted initially as she was not influential enough. She also struggles to establish herself and gain acceptance in the man's world of criminal investigations, fight against terrorism and the likewise. However through her conscientiousness and intellignece she manges to collect the eveidence that eventually lead to the discovery of the most wanted man- OBL.
The movie offers an insight into the less talked about side of torture. It reveals the emotional dilemma faced by the CIA agents who have the tedious task of acquiring information from the detainees. The impact of torture is as massive on them as it is on the detainees themselves. We could clearly see the sorry mess that the agents are in and the emotional distress that they are subject to.
Is the movie an attempt to invite us to feel sympathetic for the CIA agents as opposed to the detainees? An invitaion to justify the unjustifiable? One of the most touching yet ominous lines of the movie was what the CIA agent repeatedly used to threaten the detainee -' If you lie to me, I hurt you' and 'You decide how you are treated'. It almost frees the authorities from the guilt and we almost nonchalantly dismiss the sufferings of the detainees as we empathize with the investigators and their battle.
However to save the movie from the allegations, I personally dont feel that the movie promotes torture as Maya gathers the most vital information without using any extremism. The underlying message is that torture is futile in most instances and fails to deliver what it purports.
Having said that, I suppose the subject of detention will always be controversial and disputable. A complete abandonment of terrorist detention would mean freedom to the wrong doers. Can you blame any country for taking extreme actions for the benefit of the larger majority. The extremely complex world of politics!
But I trust the glorious US will always find an answer. So, for the time being lets take off the 'T' word from our vocabulary and resort to using the sophisticated euphemism- Enhanced Interrogation Technique.
However to save the movie from the allegations, I personally dont feel that the movie promotes torture as Maya gathers the most vital information without using any extremism. The underlying message is that torture is futile in most instances and fails to deliver what it purports.
Having said that, I suppose the subject of detention will always be controversial and disputable. A complete abandonment of terrorist detention would mean freedom to the wrong doers. Can you blame any country for taking extreme actions for the benefit of the larger majority. The extremely complex world of politics!
But I trust the glorious US will always find an answer. So, for the time being lets take off the 'T' word from our vocabulary and resort to using the sophisticated euphemism- Enhanced Interrogation Technique.
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