5 Comments:

Thanks for the reminder. I will always think of "Saving Private Ryan" on this day. On a side note, I don't think I would have appreciated the horror of that day, and what the men went through, without the violence in the movie. What do you think?

I agree. During the first twenty minutes of the movie, I didn't know if I could stand to watch the whole thing. I think it's good for us to see that. Our disconnect from the reality of battle horror sometimes makes war seem like a glorious adventure, especially when we are boys and young men.

Precisely. I've had arguments with my more fundamentalist brethren about the 'glorification' of violence in movies. Certainly there are movies that make violence look beautiful (e.g., The Matrix). However, Saving Private Ryan was the movie that changed my thinkinga about war. I always said that war was regrettable and awful, but it still held a certain shining charm. I don't know if I would have ever shaken that boyish glorification of war without the visceral shock of SPR, short of suffering through a war myself.

My kids were too young when SPR came out, but I do want them to see it for that very reason. I still haven't decided how old they should be.

Yeah, tough call. I suppose it depends on each child. My oldest son, for example, still says "he's got the bleed" in reference to someone who has a bleeding cut. I think he's too young to see SPR since he can't articulate the bloodshed. Then again, he is almost 5 years old.
:-)