halfway through the movie last night, i suddenly felt really silly for two things i wrote here yesterday: first, that errol morris movies are filled with "beautiful" images, and second, that i was "excited" to see this new film.
both of those things i said are still true. standard operating procedure was filled with some beautiful shots, and i was excited to see it. it's just that it feels wrong now to say either of those things about a film whose subject is so gruesome--so completely gruesome.
the movie explores the photos taken at abu ghraib. its subjects are the soldiers directly involved in, and responsible for, those photos. it is awful to watch, which i don't mean as an indictment of the film as a film; it's just not something, in retrospect, i would say i am "excited" to see. it makes you feel sick about war and about the people conducting the war on our behalf. it is not a good time.
but it does address a subject that needed to be addressed, and does so with intelligence and tremendous humanity. errol morris strikes me as a very decent person. i can't say i'd totally recommend this movie, but i would say it is worth seeing.
anyhow, i don't want to spend a lot of time on this.
i just needed to offer a revision.
phew. onto the rest of the day!
