War – As Seen by Eve

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

As a Canadian, I know the American military as fictional character. The military is the journey down the Nung River to assassinate Colonel Kurtz; it’s the destruction of a bridge built by British POW’s on the River Kwai; it’s the Kathryn Bigelow film that won Best Picture in 2010 that I never saw but I’m sure was great; it’s Jessica Chastain leading a team to assassinate Osama bin Laden with a plot that was way too confusing for my 12 year-old self; it’s Vincent D’Onofrio doing the Kubrick stare in a communal bathroom while reciting the Riflemen’s Creed.

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

I have no personal connection to the military, much less the infamous American forces. In Canada, we remember the First World War that happened a century ago for about a week each year. But in America, it’s everywhere, everyday.

I’m fascinated by the universal admiration and unconditional respect granted towards veterans. When I was in Texas recently, I saw dozens of cars, mostly trucks, with stickers indicating that the driver was a veteran, it was something they wanted the world to know. Everywhere we went advertised discounts for veterans. One of the universities we visited, Texas A&M at College Station, is one of six United States Senior Military Colleges. We saw men my age (you could practically call them boys) walking around in the blazing heat in full uniform, equipped with knee high leather boots. When my family went to New York for the first time when I was 12, we took a train from JFK to Manhattan upon arrival. The first person we spoke to was a young man who was on his way to school at West Point. My dad was impressed, I was oblivious.

Military status is so valued in America that there are people who walk around impersonating military office

Apocalypse Now (1979)

rs, and in response, those who look out for this impersonation and call them out. They look for flaws in their uniforms, they ask them detailed questions to catch them in a lie. They film their encounter, and once they’re sure of the accused’s guilt, they yell “Stolen Valor!”, and publicly shame them. Anthony Anderson runs a Stolen Valor website called guardianofvalor.com with its very own ‘Hall of Shame’, a database with pictures, names, and write-ups of men and women who have impersonated military officers. This issue has even been taken to the federal level. In 2005, George W. Bush singed a law declaring it a federal misdemeanour to falsely represent oneself as having any US military decoration. In 2013, that law was adapted to protect freedom of speech, now making it illegal to benefit financially from an impersonation, such as receiving discounts or obtaining money or property.

Anderson has noted in an interview with the podcast ‘Reply All’ that publicly shaming a military impersonator has viral potential.

The Hurt Locker (2009)

“I use this word and – an- and I tell people I hate using it, is–there’s entertainment value behind the video. … it actually caused … representatives, lawmakers to get involved with the Stolen Valor movement. And that one video has, so far, caused five new Stolen Valor laws to be passed in five different states.”

Both Anderson and Nate Bathea, who was stationed in Afghanistan in 2009, have noted the dangers of people going too far in their search for authenticity. Unfortunately, the movement has cause some to go after those who are military, but simply don’t want to be confronted, therefore making themselves look guilty. People with mental disabilities who wear

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

uniforms as a form of admiration have been harassed and humiliated. Anderson firmly claims that this is not the true intention of the Stolen Valor movement, and he takes action for copycat websites that post these videos to be removed.

Bethea says he wishes the Stolen Valor movement didn’t have to exist. To him, the reason for it is the major disconnect between civilians and servicemen.

“The people who wear uniforms are still people. Because it’s weird when people are treating you like a symbol and you’re trying to say, ‘Hey man, talk to me, I’m a person.’ Like, talk to me as a human being not – not as th- the symbolic representation of what you think the uniform I’m wearing means.”

I’ll never be able to fully understand what it means to work in the military. And I don’t think anyone truly knows until they experience it themselves. The fact of the matter is that I never want to.

Vogt, P.J. (Host). Pinnamaneni, S. (Producer). (2016, July 14). Stolen Valor. Reply All. Podcast retrieved from https://gimletmedia.com/episode/70-stolen-valor/

Recently our Arts Studies class has been studying Safe Area Gorazde by Joe Sacco, a journalistic comic book depicting conversations between Sacco and Bosniaks during the Bosnian War. One of the questions asked by a Bosniak character in the book is “Do they know about Gorazde in America?”. Sacco responds, “Yes, [I lied]”. (Sacco. 53). This book has reminded me in many ways of the war in Syria, and Americans (and westerners in general) attitudes towards it. Do Americans really know about Syria, specifically the people of Aleppo?

One night, shortly after Christmas, my parents and I sat down to watch NBC Nightly News. As experienced viewers, we knew the general layout of the broadcast’s stories: Global news, national news, medical revelation, wildcard, and heartwarming story about a young child and their brave golden retriever. On this night, the “wildcard” story was one that affected hundreds of families around the United States, bringing tragedy to those who just wanted to have a memorable Christmas. This tragedy was not the result of a severe weather catastrophe and not the result of disease. No, on this night, the National Broadcasting Company ran a four minute story about how Hatchimals, the hottest toy of 2016, were not working properly.

For context, Hatchimals are brightly coloured, cuter versions of Furby’s, with the technological advancement of being able to ‘hatch’ itself out of an egg. That’s the crucial part. There are thousands of fluorescent, noise making toys out there, but when a child takes a Hatchimal out of its box, it’s inside an egg, which the bird will break itself out of with its plastic beak when shaken. I admit, that’s a pretty cool toy, especially in the eyes of an eight year old. But they aren’t cheap. They cost around $50.00 – $90.00 in stores, while desperate parents could pay $250.00 for one on eBay. I can’t exactly remember, but I’m just hoping that I never forced my parents to but me a toy that expensive when I was that age through temper tantrums and the silent treatment.

Back to the night in question. Reports are coming in that these toys are malfunctioning, they aren’t breaking out of their shell, essentially ruining the whole point. Parents flocked to Twitter to share their stories, telling the manufacturer that their child’s Christmas was ruined because of it. One person tweeted: “Hatimal didnt hatch after 14 Hours and now all lights have gone off. How do i exchange a dud ? My 4 year old is gutted” and “# hatchimal ruined my 6 yr olds Christmas. All the effort and it done nothing Christmas day #hatchimalmademydaughtercry” (all typo’s were present in the original tweets).

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen parents blame a toy company for their child’s dependency on material objects, but for some reason, this story struck a nerve with me. While this was happening, an actually devastating event was taking place across the globe. At this time, thousands of Syrian children probably forgot it was Christmas, because they were so concerned with keeping themselves and their families alive, wondering when the next bomb would go off, and how they would get out of the hell they were living in. So many families were broken through loss, and a whole city destroyed by madness and chaos.

I’m never one to tell a person they can’t be upset because “someone else has it worse”. I understand that hardship isn’t a contest. A person living in the safest city in the world with the most loving family and perfect health can be suffering immensely inside, and that pain is valid. But this was different. I myself have been wondering what I, a teenager in Vancouver, can do to help the innocent people of Syria and other countries torn apart by war. The best answer I can come up with is to keep these people and their stories alive. Share them on social media, talk about them with your family and friends, learn the facts. By going on Twitter and telling the world how hard your child has it because their $80.00 pink robotic bird isn’t working, you are displaying your ignorance and disregard for other people’s suffering, and it saddens me how people can waste their time with such trivial things.

I think my passion towards this particular event is a build up of my frustration towards the countless tragedies that have taken place around the world in recent months. Not just the war in Syria, but also the shooting in the Turkish nightclub, the suicide bombings in Baghdad during Ramadan, the mass shootings that now seem to happen everyday in the United States. People have accused westerners of not caring and being ignorant. Of course I thought this wasn’t true, and that people did care but they just didn’t have the ability to help. But that story on NBC, those tweets, made me think that people really don’t care, and I can’t imagine what other tragic events will be pushed aside and ignored tomorrow.

Information about Hatchimals thanks to NBC: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/hatchimals-barbie-disappoint-parents-kids-christmas-n700601