Current Events > Civil War was pretty meh *vague spoilers*

(+) Yeah! (+)

It was entertaining for sure, and I don't really mind that it was explicitly non-political...but the way the press behaved was silly. I know they're war correspondents, but they were more reckless than the troops they were following around.

But my bigger issue was how tolerant everyone was of them. "Oh hey random militia folks, I know we just met five minutes ago, but you can trust me, look, I have a press badge! Also, thanks for letting me stick my camera in your face during the middle of this gunfight and please protect me if I'm in danger."

There's also a Magical Negro, which is always unfortunate.

mobilebloechel posted...

Can you say that?

I mean, it's a thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Negro?wprov=sfla1

The more I think about it the less I like it tbh. It was a good watch as a sort of spectacle type deal but there were some pretty bad choices in the screenplay. Also, Kirsten Dunst dying by the diving trope was so lazy

You should look up some war stories of press. Its by no means an everyday thing but the way the press interact seemed pretty reasonable to me. Some recommendations for more movie/TV would be:
-Generation Kill - following a Rolling Stone reporter imbedded with Marine 1st recon during the invasion of the Middle East
-Whisket Tango Foxtrot - Tina Fey as a war correspondent

Then theres a ton of independent clips/stories of media in warfare.

IIRC one of the intentions behind Civil War was specifically to show how media will jeopardize lives including their own to get a shot

I was gonna see it last night then ended up picking Late Night with the Devil instead once I got to the theater. No regrets, fucking loved that movie.

I appreciate you bringing attention to that trope with Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson.)

It was pretty egregious and blatant

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

He's not using it as a slur and it's a well known trope in media that is referred to as such. So I don't see why not, but this place's moderation is so spotty that I guess we'll find out.

ScazarMeltex posted...

He's not using it as a slur and it's a well known trope in media that is referred to as such. So I don't see why not, but this place's moderation is so spotty that I guess we'll find out.

its not really applicable here though. Unless we consider seeing a clearly dangerous situation as dangerous as supernatural or mystic insight lol.

The film is a textbook example of using the trope

Sammy warns them to stay away from the crazy trumpers with the mass grave, they get themselves in trouble, then he saves them at the last minute by running over the trumpers with the SUV. This is just blatant example but his presence throughout the film fulfills the trope

Drunk_Cobra posted...

I was gonna see it last night then ended up picking Late Night with the Devil instead once I got to the theater. No regrets, fucking loved that movie.

Ya that movie was great. When it hits the climax through the resolution what a wild ride. Also appreciated the 70s feel they gave it.

It's a very disturbing movie, but I guess that was the point.

Film really didnt explain enough world building for me.

SHRlKE posted...

Film really didnt explain enough world building for me.

I went in knowing there would be no world-building and I'm someone that normally doesn't even bother, but yeah even for me I was like wtf who is who and what are they fighting for? Doesn't help that so many people other than the U.S. military had uniforms and they don't even explain if they're the same faction or just local militias with guns protecting their stuff.

The director is an enlightened centrist what did you expect

refmon posted...

The director is an enlightened centrist what did you expect

He was like aggressively trying to prevent people from even putting together clues about what had happened. "Let's have Texas and California team up to make clear this wasn't a Democrat/Republican thing!" "Let's have the president's Black female press secretary be shot by another Black female on the other side so no one will think there was a racial component!"

The only reference I can remember in the film to anything overtly political was a statement about the "ANTIFA Massacre"...but then of course he neglected to mention who was massacred and who did the massacring.

Texas is trending blue though, and this is the near future when Texas flipped

Texas is forever trending blue.

And it would have to go way further than swing state to ever team up with California.

I thought the movie was great, other than the dumb and extremely predictable death of Kirsten Dunsts' character. It really didn't need more world building than it had, I thought it worked better leaving a lot up to our imaginations. Making Texas and California be the main resistance helps make it clear it's not supposed to be "our" world, this isn't meant to be a speculative fiction movie.

McSame_as_Bush posted...

But my bigger issue was how tolerant everyone was of them. "Oh hey random militia folks, I know we just met five minutes ago, but you can trust me, look, I have a press badge! Also, thanks for letting me stick my camera in your face during the middle of this gunfight and please protect me if I'm in danger."

Honestly, that's the most accurate part of the movie. Everyone wants their side covered. Americans have interviewed the Taliban for instance, and it's why it's so infuriating seeing Israel brutally murder so many members of the press. If even terrorist organizations can attempt to not kill the free press, surely a 1st world nation should be able to abide by that notion.

i enjoyed the movie but i wish they elaborated more on why that civil war was happening.

guess that didnt matter much... lol

ZevLoveDOOM posted...

i enjoyed the movie but i wish they elaborated more on why that civil war was happening.

guess that didnt matter much... lol

Maybe we will get a prequel

McSame_as_Bush posted...

Texas is forever trending blue.

And it would have to go way further than swing state to ever team up with California.

Ya that was a stupid mashup that bothered me. And that fact that it was ONLY TX & CA together, which politically have been oil and water, with many Texans saying they want to secede from the Union because of states like CA (often the most hated in right-wing rants), just feeds into the ridiculousness and how it really fucks over the viewers that they go out of their way to explain as little as possible.

There's good ways to do "spare and missing details", I don't think the movie did that very well.

either way, i liked what they did: its basically a modern war movie with that indie artsy A24 style but presented from the perspective of the journalists who cover these conflicts.

also wish president Ron Swanson had more airtime in this even tho that last scene where that other journalist dude asks him for a final quote got me. lol

Am I the whoosh