War
Saw K-19: The Widowmaker on Saturday night with two other friends. I wanted to cry me, who almost never cries in movies! So many deaths, so much suffering and for what? It was all so unnecessary.
For those who havent seen the movie and dont have the faintest clue what Im talking about, its about the Russian nuclear missile submarine K-19, deployed during the Cold War. Based on fact, it tells the story of how the submarine was pressed into commission despite being unready to put to sea. The Russians wanted to show the Americans that they had this lethal weapon at hand, you see. Haphazard preparations, sub-standard construction materials and plain ignorance about the dangerous effects of nuclear radiation contribute to K-19 being a swimming time bomb. Sure enough, the submarines nuclear reactor malfunctions and just go watch the movie, OK? *smiles*
The movie ended and I was still grappling with all Id seen and all I was feeling, and my two friends were talking about how great Harrison Fords acting had been. Sheesh. Talk about different paradigms!
K-19 upset me because the deaths, the suffering could have been avoided. With better planning, proper supplies, wiser leadership, the ending might have been much different. To me, the movie hammered home the fact that so much of what we do is pointless and in fact, needless. War is, in some ways, nothing but a game of one-upmanship.