Addiction and The Hurt Locker - Research Paper Example

?Addiction and The Hurt Locker Introduction The theme that in prevalent in the movie The Hurt Locker is that, for many, the rush of war is something that is addictive. Just like an addict craves the objection of his addiction (gambling, drugs, sex, etc.), and cannot function in normal life without having this object, so do some individuals crave war and the excitement of war. This is shown in the opening quotation, which states that “the rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” While this might not be true for some of the men in this story, it certainly is true for James, who is the main character in The Hurt Locker. Discussion Throughout the movie, there are signs that James does not look upon his job as something that he has to do, or something that he does not enjoy doing. It does not even imply that his job is something that he takes seriously.. Therefore, this points to the job being an addiction – James does it because he gets a thrill out of it. Moreover, he takes chances that he shouldn't be taking, just like an addict would take too many drugs, or gamble too much, or engage in other kinds of behavior that is unreasonably hazardous to one's well-being. When we first meet James, there is already an inkling that is a guy who enjoys taking chances – he asks Sanborn to help him move a wood that is by the window, even though Sanborn states that the wood is there to keep out snipers. They move the wood, anyhow, because Sanborn wants to see outside. This small move is a sign of things to come, as James takes increasingly risky chances with his life and the lives of his men. In the very next scene, James shows, once again, that he is more reckless than he should be. He goes to investigate an IED, instead of having a robot go and investigate it. Sanborn is dismayed by this, reasoning that the robot is halfway there, and that James shouldn't go down there until the robot has a chance to find out about the suspicious device. Sanborn decides right then that James is reckless, stating that James is reckless, when Owen calls James “rowdy.” Then, James, as he approaches the IED does not respond to Sanborn's entreaties to keep him, Sanborn, posted on what he, James, is doing. His actions end up endangering the men, as a suspicious taxi driver causes a commotion that makes everybody on edge. As James approaches the IED, it is obvious that he does not feel the danger in what he is doing – he is way too casual about it, and ends up making jokes that Sanborn and others do not find funny. The inescapable conclusion is that he feels the need to investigage the IED because this is something that gives him a type of high - he wants to do it, and the danger of the situation is something that he looks forward to. This is obvious by the way that he approaches the situation not with trepidation, but with zeal. Sanborn immediately figures that there is something not quite right with James. After James acted recklessly the day before, Sanborn states that he, Sanborn, was in intelligence and that he could read James and James' motivation. He immediately senses that James is the type of person that will get him killed, as well as get himself killed. Again, the inescapable conclusion is that James is enjoying himself. Even when Sanborn calls him on his reckless nature, James doesn't seem to care. Sanborn clearly has the demeanor of somebody who is in the job not because he loves it or is addicted to it, but because it is a job and he no doubt believes in the job. As such, he recognizes the danger in situation, and he reacts with alarm to dangerous situations. He believes in taking every precaution. James, however, is clearly not only enjoying himself, but seems to take a thrill out of danger. The next scene where this is shown is where James is disarming a vehicle. He took his helmet off, even though this act of taking off his helmet was met with alarm by Owen. James reasons that if he is going to die, he is going to die comfortable. Therefore, this is yet another instance where James is taking unnecessary chances, which points to the war as being his addiction – like an addict will take too many drugs, ignoring the dangers, so does James put himself in danger unnecessarily. As he works on disarming the vehicle, Sanborn continually tells James that it's time to get out of there, because there are insurgents all around. To this, James takes off his headset, ignoring Sanborn's entreaty. When Owen tell James to put his headset back on, he merely flipped him off. An addict will endanger those around him - a person will drive drunk or high, which endangers all others on the road, because that addict has to have his fix. Likewise, James endangers Sanborn and Owen because he has to get his fix of a dangerous situation. Moreover, after he gets out of the car, having disabled it, he says “That was good.” It's obvious that disabling the car gave him a high. However, James' recklessness and the way that he endangers his men makes Osborn seriously think about killing him with a “misfired” detonator. Finally, Owen calls James on his fixation. Owen gets hurt because James was looking for trouble, and he yells at James that he looks for trouble because he has to get his adrenaline fix. And, in another scene, Sanborn breaks down a little and tells James that he must realize that every time they go out it is life of death. James says that he does understand that, and he has a little smile on his face as he say this. What finally brings it home that James is addicted to the rush of war is that he cannot stand being home. Although he is able to go home to a baby son and a beautiful wife, unlike Sanborn who does not have a family of his own, James still cannot bear to be there, so he signs up for another tour of duty. Just like a true addict cannot bear to be without the object of his addiction for long, so James cannot stand being away from the adrenaline rush of war. Director Kathryn Bigelow made the choice to, for the most part, cloak James' addiction subtly. Although the opening gives the viewer some idea that the movie is going to be about a person who is addicted to war and the adrenaline rush that comes with it, it's never completely clear that this is what James' issue really is. James is brash, reckless and way too casual about everything, especially for the uptight Osborn. But the audience cannot be sure that James is acting this way because he is addicted, or simply because he is careless. The decision to do this has some definite pluses. For one, the message isn't as heavy-handed as it might have been, if the director had chosen another method of showing James' addiction. Because the method of showing his addiction is subtle, the audience can draw their own conclusion about James' motivation. This, in the end, is what filmmakers should do – they should present material, then let the audience interpret the material as they wish. The drawback is that the audience does not have a real guide on James and why he is the way that he is. While it is fine to let the audience interpret the material, there should also be some kind of backstory that will show the audience exactly why James will take the chances that he takes, and provide the audience for his motivation for going back to war and not living a normal life at home with his wife and child. The back story was not really provided. Perhaps Bigelow could have shown in flashbacks other times that James was reckless in his regular life, to make the audience understand that it is the rush of danger that gets James high. Then this would make James' character much clearer, and would provide the audience with more material with which to interpret the character. That said, there is just enough material to give the audience a way to draw its own conclusion on James. The quote at the beginning is what frames the movie. Plus, Owen yells at James for getting everybody in trouble, and putting everybody in danger, because he has to get his adrenaline rush. The ending of the movie leaves little doubt that James is really addicted. He somehow manages to get out of Iraq alive, after defusing some 800 plus bombs. The final conversation with Sanborn, where he tells Sanborn that he is aware that every time he goes out, it is a crap shoot on whether or not he will live or die, shows that James knows the stakes. He has a wife and a child at home, so he has people to live for - Sanborn does not, and the Iraqi man at the end of the movie, who exploded because he had a bomb strapped on him, had children at home, so he didn't want to die. Yet James willingly signed up for another year of duty in Iraq, knowing that the chances are good that he would not be returning home after it. And, even if he does return home, the problem will be the same – he will have to have danger and excitement in his life, or else he will be restless and unhappy. As he tells his infant son in the end – adults only have one or two things that they love. Danger and life-or-death situations are things that James really loves. Whether or not he loves his son and wife are questionable. That he loves the adrenaline rush of almost dying is not. Conclusion In the movie The Hurt Locker, the overriding theme is that James is an addict. He is addicted to adrenaline, addicted to the feeling that he could live or die at any moment, addicted to war itself. Therefore, he goes looking for danger. He deliberately makes actions that increase his odds of dying – taking off helmets when he isn't supposed to, staying with a car when his comrade is desperately trying to get him out of there because there are snipers all around, going to investigate an IED before the robot has a chance to clear the way are just some of the acts that he takes that puts him at risk. While he is undoubtedly very good at what he does, having defused a record number of bombs and IEDs, the problem with James is that his addiction, like any other addiction, endangers not just himself, but the people around him. It's clear that he doesn't care that this is so. All he wants is his rush, and he will get it, no matter who is in danger because of it. The director of this Oscar-winning movie understands that James' addiction is at the heart of this movie, and she makes it clear that addiction is what James is suffering from, by putting the quote at the front of the movie about how war is addictive. Because James is such a well-rounded character, the audience roots for him, in addition to being vaguely repulsed by him. And it is clear that James will never be able to live a normal life. He may sign up for a tour of duty, as many tours as he can, and, if he manages to live through them, he will come home one day and continue to look for trouble, and continue to look for ways that he could put his life into danger. This is clear from the film – James is addicted to the feeling of matters of life or death. Bibliography The Hurt Locker. (2011) Dir. Kathryn Bigelow. Perf. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty. Paramount Pictures. DVD. Read More