Everyone Has Reversals

Story Lessons, Big and Small (Warning: Spoilers!)

March 08, 2008

The Burden of Context

Watching Charlie Wilson's War was an odd experience. It had that "ragtag team coming together to accomplish something huge" feeling, as a tiny group of unlikely allies work together to covertly help Afghanistan defeat the Goliath-like Soviets, thereby ending the Cold War. You want to really root for these guys (the U.S. backers, as well as the underdog rural Afghanis) and when they're successful, you really, really want to celebrate with them.

The problem of course, is that while you're watching these events unfold, you can't help but think about everything that's still to come. The Taliban, 9/11, horrific ethnic conflict in former Soviet states, etc... in short, not less war, but more.


I don't think this burden of hindsight is a problem -- I think it's a fantastic element that's used all the time, to great effect. It's what makes a movie like Schindler's List powerful... we know now the full extent of WWII's horrors, which makes even small acts of heroism during the holocaust all the more meaningful.


The lesson? You can have your cake and eat it too: Charlie Wilson's War played the characters' actions as cause for celebration, knowing we as an audience are going to be conflicted about it the entire time -- and acknowledging that in its final scenes and title card.

The cake is rich and delicious!

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1 Comments:

Blogger m said...

Mmm...cake.

12:25 p.m.  

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