Why We Fight

Why We Fight is mostly comprised of interviews and stock footage juxtaposed to tell a story. This approach is very effective in making clear and pointed arguments. With that in mind, yes, the director’s approach was very effective. I understood that not only did he feel that war is not the solution, but also that there are very key people, including many politicians involved in decisions were at fault for the whole Iraqi war situation. There were some interesting side stories of the citizen view that really added to the story. They put all of the legalities and politics into the perspectives of the average person. The man whose son was killed in 9/11 was a reoccurring theme along with the young man that was deciding to join the army. Both of these were the demonstration of the effects that large policies have on people, even if those effects are no more than human emotion.

Some of the time while watching the film, however, I couldn’t find the connections that were made in the flow of the story. The biggest jump of subject was near the end when one of the interviewees was talking about the war and how it was mostly civilians that were being killed to the fact that “clearly capitalism is winning.” I thought that was an interesting statement for the editor and director to leave in because it felt so off topic. The other confusing factor was that many of the experts in their fields are speaking to an interviewer that knows and understands what they are talking about, while if they were explaining these complex policies to someone like me, who has no more than a one hundred level political science knowledge, their responses would be much different and in consequence probably more shallow.

I felt that the director was very fair to people who had a different point of view. The one that comes to mind is the soldier that dropped the first bomb on the leader’s quarters. He was very obedient to authority, respectful to his country and back up the United States in their decisions. There weren’t any cuts that didn’t allow him to say what he believed.

During the first half of the film, the director got me to really care about the subject he was presenting. I have lately been questioning quite a bit the reason behind all of the fighting anyway. The idea that “modern weapons take food from the hungry and shelter from the homeless” is intriguing to me. Why are we spending so much money on figuring out ways to blow up other people’s children when our own are lacking in their basic necessities? One profound montage from the film is the one of the congress men and women asking for money to fund various weapons. They are asking for millions and millions of dollars over and over right in a row. That choice of editing hit home that a little money for all the bells and whistles here and there add up so quickly, and for such a confusing cause. Another statement that surprised me was the comment about recruitment advertising. They appeal to the self interest of the people to get them to be in self-sacrificing positions.

The question I continued to ask myself is what if someone took all the money and instead of building defense, we built education. At the forum this last Tuesday when Greg Mortenson spoke about the real way of obtaining peace: to educate children and people. What good things could be done with the thousands of dollars spent on bombs. If it costs the same amount to build a bomb as it did a school, wouldn’t the school have more positive effects? Those children would learn how to think for themselves. If the United States wanted to help someone, why don’t they help the illiterate become literate.

After the peace advocating section in the beginning, the film took a turn for the not so great. It started talking like every other documentary about the recent conflicts, pointing out the responsible politicians and policies that are at fault. I feel like I have been harped on so much about these facts that I get tired of listening to it and I tuned out a little. The creativity that the director started with that drove me to want to do more to help turned once more to a shouting and finger pointing match.

The question of why we fight wasn't really answered. Then again, I like the profound statement that a little boy says in the film sums it up. He said something like the people who started the war are the only ones who really understand what it's all about. I think he's right.