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The War on Terror Spectator
Heroes at Work
Act of Valor viewers: Don’t try this at home.
Consider for a moment that being a Navy SEAL were a unionized, private sector job. Just how much per hour would you have to pay to get guys to do what Navy SEALs do?
I don’t believe there’s that much money in the world. You won’t either after you’ve watched Act of Valor, which I strongly recommend that you do (unless you don’t do well with violence — which is not gratuitous in this movie, but graphic).
Fortunately for us, the young Americans who have what it takes to be SEALs and are willing to take it on don’t do it for the money. Working for the Navy is a living, but hardly an extravagant one. The job description for a Navy SEAL, however, is about the most extravagant one on the planet. The training to qualify the small number of men who make this uber-select fraternity is probably the toughest in the world. Few are called, even fewer chosen.
SEALs have to be smart, strong, brave, durable, tenacious, emotionally centered, highly skilled, willing to work fantastically hard, and totally dedicated to doing things human beings should probably not be called on to do. And SEALs have to be patriots. If not, there are just too many other ways to make a living on this earth that don’t make the gaudy demands that the training, the work, and the life of a Navy SEAL place on SEALs and on the people who love them. America is blessed to have men like these.
Act of Valor is a movie about SEALs at work. It opened last Friday and in its first weekend led all movies at the box office, taking in $24.7 million, twice its meager production costs, half again what the second place movie took in, and almost twice as much as industry experts had predicted it would take in.
While some Americans last Sunday (a smaller number than in past years) watched an industry that for decades has been devoted to dissing America and American values passing out awards to its practitioners, many for movies involving pretend heroes, a host of other Americans were in theaters watching real American heroes on the screen. The central characters in Valor are real Navy SEALs, not actors. Scott Waugh, one of Valor’s filmmakers said there is no way actors could authentically portray the intensity, the aura, and the complexity of Navy SEALs, so they got the real guys to do it. None of your Charlie Sheen nonsense.
Valor, starring a half-dozen unnamed heroes turned in its boffo box office performance with little help from the critics, most of whom didn’t like the movie or its message. Folks who count these sorts of things told USA Today that only about 30 percent of critics who wrote about the movie reviewed it favorably. The word “jingoistic” was deployed in more than one review. Another sniffed that the movie (and by inference SEALs, as the movie shows realistically what they do) “ignores the complexities of war.”
Well, yes, as the movies shows, SEALs are very good at overwhelming complexities. Not to mention nuances. (If a SEAL encountered a nuance on the battlefield, he would likely give it a short burst and step over it.)
Hollywood, and the industry that has grown up around it, including critics, used to celebrate America and brave American warriors. Since about, oh, Bonnie and Clyde, it has taken to celebrating other things. Now the favored approach is to look down on American institutions, particularly the military. So it was no surprise that fewer than a third of critics liked the movie. It was also no surprise that in a still patriotic America, about 85 percent of audience members who were asked for their reaction after the movie gave it a thumbs-up.
Not all the criticisms of the movie are baseless. Some complained that the dialogue is a bit wooden as the central characters are not actors. Point taken. Though much of the talk sounded like real sailors to me. I was one decades ago, though in the length of my honorable but undistinguished service I never did anything as vigorous or as dangerous as the typical Navy SEAL does any day before noon chow.
Another complaint is that the story in Valor is thin. That the movie is mostly a recruiting tool and a SEAL appreciation exercise. Without giving away much, I’ll say the movie involves one rescue operation and then an attempt to stop a determined group of jihadists from entering the United States and committing gross acts of terrorism. The story is certainly as involved as that of your average segment of TV action fare and most action movies. But the action in this one is both heart-pounding and realistic. About as realistic as can be made. And intelligent in a way the latest Bruce Willis machine gun opera just isn’t.
In addition to the story line, the movie is strengthened by its themes of courage, sacrifice, patriotism, devotion, victory and loss. Any movie-goer who still believes America is a basically good country worth defending, and appreciates those who put it all on the line to do so, will have a hard time leaving this one with a dry eye.
Valor was three years in the making. Production schedules were interfered with when the movie’s “stars” were called away for overseas missions. We don’t know where the SEALs we saw in the movie are today. Could they at this minute be putting themselves at great risk for our advantage? Wherever they are, this moviegoer can only say, “God bless, God’s speed, and please accept my inadequate thanks for your service.”
About the Author
Larry Thornberry is a writer in Tampa.
POST American| 3.1.12 @ 6:16AM
----TOO much Jesse Ventura!
--and NOT even the Ventura
that's worth paying attention to.
MEANWHILE, as the CFR's 4 decades on
RED China handover, sellout, TREASON and
world EUGENICS OP rounds off
----Hollywood 'mysteriously' has nothing to
offer on this, the 60th Anniversary of the
-------------------KOREAN WAR---------------------.
--------------------$$$$$$$$trange. . . .
PaulyD| 3.1.12 @ 8:09AM
Did your tinfoil helmet fall off this morning?
Brian Mc| 3.1.12 @ 3:24PM
Probably not, but at least he got the power turned back on!
tr| 3.1.12 @ 6:41AM
Something is very wrong with our U.S. military when we have them making films.
I don't ever recall having so much down time while in the service to just to film cuts, retakes, makeup, stunts, sound takes, re-do's and whatever other jargon the movie industry uses. Aren't we in a global war on terror? But I guess it really is not al that taxing because our guys have time to just strut their stuff and gear and tech in front of the world's vision.
No wonder we're losing. Thanks, Dept. of the Navy! (You really needed another "Top Gun" this bad, huh?)
The U.S. military does not need to do self advertising, certainly not the Seals. (Oh, we only know their first names? Only their first names are revealed? We shouldn't know who they are at all. So now this means we've got them all trained up but they are not capable of doing some missions. I bet that goes over real good in the special ops world.)
Our U.S. military needs to stop the nonsensical self promoting. (Knock, knock, it is an abysmal economy, kids are knocking themselves out trying to get in.)
Either young men want to go for armed forces duty or they don't. The service alone speaks for itself.
And everybody needs to focus on the real world job at hand, not silver screen glory.
It's duty. It is not showmanship.
Darin| 3.1.12 @ 6:57AM
tr,
Yes, it is a duty, not showmanship. But your comments are rather petty.
PaulyD| 3.1.12 @ 8:12AM
tr,
The SEALS in this movie did not have permission from the Navy to participate. They did it in their free time. The Navy was not happy with that, but has decided to back them because the movie does not discredit them or the Naval service.
But "the Brass" does not want it to happen again.
Stuart Koehl| 3.1.12 @ 8:38AM
That would be a very serious mistake. Reports of the death of the Clausewitzian Triad (the army, the state and the people) are entirely premature, and it is essential that the people see the military as being both honorable and admirable. It's also good that our enemies see our guys as totally kick-ass: it will make them think twice.
Stuart Koehl| 3.1.12 @ 8:39AM
By the way, tr, your screed makes you look like something of a jerk. Perhaps you need your own propaganda movie?
Occam's Tool| 3.1.12 @ 5:20PM
The only problem is that the head terrorist was Jewish, not, as would be FAR more likely, Islamic.
Stuart Koehl| 3.4.12 @ 10:19PM
Russian arms dealers come in all flavors, and sell to all comers. Islamic cash is green, just like everyone else's.
Yips| 3.1.12 @ 3:46PM
To PaulyD and others: Is this comment below true?
[(http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02... Rear Adm. Denny Moynihan, of the Navy Office of Information in Washington, explained that every four years the Defense Department “looks at itself and says, ‘What is it that you need to be moving forward, and where do you think you are?’ ” He added, “For the Navy and the SEAL community it was, ‘Hey, you need 500 more SEALs’ and that launched a series of initiatives to try to attract more people. This film was one of those initiatives.”
The source of the above is a commenter's comments at American Thinker today. There is also an article there on this movie.
www.americanthinker.com
Stuart Koehl| 3.1.12 @ 8:18AM
What was wrong with our military in World War II, when we had a whole department making what were, in essence, propaganda movies for domestic consumption?
Trent| 3.1.12 @ 2:19PM
The question raised is - What is wrong with the U.S. military making propaganda (movies - in WW II)?
Because it is propaganda. Dictators use that a la Leni (Helene) Riefenstahl and Il Duce's movie crews. Free societies have no need of it.
One is playing with fire when one engages in propaganda.
Would you want to see the "Hope & Change!" 'documentary' at its world debut August 1st? Will you openly support it with your tax dollars?
Stuart Koehl| 3.2.12 @ 9:00AM
You use "propaganda" in a pejorative manner, probably because you conflate it with falsehood. However, there are different kinds of propaganda, and the Big Lie, known as "black propaganda" is only one of them.
The most common kind of propaganda is white propaganda, which is simply telling the truth, attractively packaged. Radio Free Europe and the Voice of America, as well as most of the vintage World War II movies put out by the Department of War Information fall into this category. They told the truth, from the perspective of the United States, in a manner intended to educate, encourage and motivate.
Gray propaganda also uses the truth, or most of it, but sometimes puts it out under a false flag (i.e., it originates with one party, but is published by a third party); when disinformation is included, it's usually for the purpose of misleading adversaries regarding intentions and plans.
Black propaganda is the classic Dr. Goebbels indoctrination material, including misleading news, false documentaries, and incendiary films like Jude Suess.
As regards Hope and Change propaganda, every department in every administration, has public affairs departments that put out materials intended to sell the government's policies, much of it in the form of public service announcements.
As expenditures of tax dollars go, I wish all of it was as effective as this film, which, as far as I can see, cost us nothing over what the SEALs would have expended in time, fuel and ordnance in ordinary training activities.
So stop being churlish.
Chalkdust| 3.1.12 @ 8:44AM
tr
Let's give those wayward SEALs 40 lashes with a knotted rope and sixty hours this week-end buffing up the head. For gawd's sake man get a grip....you're draggin' anchor and headed for the shoals.
Gary B| 3.1.12 @ 9:22AM
tr,
Look at the result. It's the equivalent of a national referendum on the military and, more broadly, on how to get things done. In other words, the non-liberal, non-progessing way, which is to talk things to death, while taxing Americans into poverty with fake solutions. No wonder they hated the movie.
Bill| 3.1.12 @ 9:37AM
The United States military made the Why We Fight series in World War II; they also made The Battle of San Pietro. There was another movie the Signal Corps made at Gen. Eisenhower's request, summarizing the war in the ETO. The military has been making films about armed service for a long time.
The Old Paratrooper| 3.1.12 @ 2:14PM
TR You sure are a petty person. I say anything that can be done showing ANYTHING American in a positive manner "is devoutly to be wished for."
radical democrats have been and continue to rip this country for what it done, didn't do and what it may be going to do. There is nothing right with America! Just listen to THE BELOVED DESPOT. His apologies "calmed" things down. Yeah, only four of our sons were killed .
Rich D| 3.1.12 @ 11:56PM
Three years in the making. Read the article.
Appleby| 3.1.12 @ 6:57AM
This is a puzzling exercise, but it's far better than the old GI Joe type Hollywood idea of what war is all about. Things are different these days, and it doesn't hurt now and then to show people just how different they are. Perhaps after this movie we won't have so many Code Pinkos screaming "Bring Our Toddlers Home!" every time we deploy our men overseas. And for those who spend days and days whining that the Girls have all the good jobs, and the Girls who spend the same days whining that there are No Good Men, perhaps this will show both where to look.
God bless our troops, and God bless America.
CrackerHound| 3.1.12 @ 9:21AM
I watched the movie last weekend and thought it was incredible. There has never been a movie like this. Of all the war movies and special forces thrillers I've seen, this is unequaled and by itself in uniqueness. I also didn't think the acting was that bad...I've seen much worse from real actors. You could tell they weren't trained actors but I thought that added to the overall concept. The producers were right. There is NO WAY Hollywood actors or stunt men could portray what we saw on the screen. Nor could writers come up with some of the tactics and scenarios. That HAD to come from the SEALs themselves.
Brian B| 3.1.12 @ 11:13AM
--Not all the criticisms of the movie are baseless. Some complained that the dialogue is a bit wooden as the central characters are not actors.-
Could they possibly have been more wooden than, say, icons like Robert Redford? Doubt it.
glassfinger| 3.1.12 @ 12:16PM
Haven't seen it but is on my short term bucket list to do. I wasn't a SEAL; I did my bit in the Army, MACV advisor to the ARVN, Central Highlands. Older brother was Marine, flew back seat in F4s out of Chu Lai the same time. We grew up Navy brats-dad was a legit Pearl Harbor survivor-had the only operational PBY to land in the harbor after the 2nd wave (VP-24). I know the military and the guys who do the job. Have nothing but the utmost respect and love for the ones who were in this film. Don't care about the criticism-I suspect the film is too honest for most pencil pushers to get it. God speed, all former and current men in green...
The Old Paratrooper| 3.1.12 @ 2:08PM
I am surprised that Hollywood let this movie be made. It actually shows an American institution in a positive way. No doubt The Beloved Despot running the country will have to do a supplement to his 2010 Apology Tour in 2012. Criticism of the SEALS who participated in the making of this movie is unalterably, positively unwarranted. I was a hard charging paratrooper and if you made an actor portray what we did it would be cliched and bogus. Who could convincingly play a SEAL? That's right: a Navy SEAL and nobody else.
TRT| 3.1.12 @ 4:05PM
So many above seem to act like the SEALS (and let's be real, they represent not just themselves but all of the elite units in the military) are a group of people who aren't getting their due.
Isn't the current Newsweek Cover very complimentary of SEALs? Yes, Newsweek.
I'm not sure what society most of you live in. You live in one with a constant brick-sized chip on your shoulder, particularly about your beloved military and what you perceive are round-the-clock glory actions by the military with simultaneous round-the-clock official scorn for the same.
Go shopping sometime. Go to those big malls and just look at what people have on as garb. A few years back it was very hip to have a FBI t-shirt in the colors that the FBI training school uses. I saw CIA. Caps to go with it. Maybe this is still cool. It is the same over and over and over with military garb. How many guys do you see proudly outdoors doing lawn work, mowing, doing landscaping etc. with the trousers right from military clothing stock?
Most of America is not going to run out tomorrow and secretly place a hand written $2,500 thank you check in a local serviceman's mailbox. But they will always tip their hats and smile and applaud our troops. People get teary-eyed when they drive past a home with a yellow ribbon on a tree out front. In the America I know, the average person is not the least bit concerned about what the media out of New York City thinks or the leftists in Beverly Hills.
In the America I know I see people everywhere helping the servicemen in the airports.
A lot of you seem stuck in something from 1969. If you have a chip on your shoulder, get with the times.
Everyone of our servicemen tells their own stories in many various ways back to their families and friends back home. This story needs no glossing or embellishment.
Richard Baker| 3.1.12 @ 6:39PM
Kind of surprised that these guys, who prize their anonymity, actually made this film. It'll never happen again, I'll wager, as the Navy, understandably, doesn't want this kind of exposure for a variety of good reasons.
ras| 3.1.12 @ 7:38PM
Mr. Baker, Um, I dunno. "It'll never happen again?" It is happening now all over the place.
We seem rather bent on doing personal career enhancing PR on just about everything. And this site is just dry stuff. You should see all the photographs uploaded by USAF, Army, and USMC guys in just the last six months, last four years. I am not sure there is any control at all now over what is posted. There is lip service given to control, but there is no control.
As someone who has done military PR and had to step away because it is morally unconscionable, let me tell you that a senior officer or DOD top civilian that believes he or she can obtain traction and additional velocity to attain the next rung or perked position, operational security/logic takes a back seat.
Personal ambition is in the fore.
Please examine all the thousands of public websites on every tiny little unit and military office. There is no reason for their presence in the public sphere, but they are there. In living color.
You also find a lot of military bragging in blogs that gives good information away, bit by bit.
Roy Lofquist| 3.1.12 @ 7:24PM
I met an Army Ranger once. Three of us went out to play golf at Luke AFB just west of Phoenix. The starter sent a guy out to join us. About 6'3", 240 lbs, maybe 6 ounces of fat on his body. We teed off. The guy drove the ball well over 250 yards. I invited him to put his bag on the cart and ride with me. He said thanks, but he'd rather walk. With that he put his bag over his shoulder and jogged to his ball. Eighteen holes he jogged, carrying his bag. It was about 110 degrees when we finished.
Said he was a Ranger. I asked if he'd been in Desert Storm. No, he said, I'm 40 years old and we leave that to the younger guys. I just train them. We asked him to join us at the 19th for a cold drink. Thanks he said, but I have to my guys out to the White Tanks (mountains) to climb some cliffs.
Lucius Severus Pertinax| 3.1.12 @ 7:38PM
So.. 70% of the critics didn't like the movie? Which critics are those?
You mean the self-regarding, America hating, limp-wristed, metrosexual geeks led around by thier atrophied gonads by thier anorexic vegan girlfriends(of whichever sex)? THOSE critics?
Ah... I see....
Gary B| 3.2.12 @ 12:04AM
Lucius,
Perfect description. And, even better, it's really funny. Cracked me up.
Robert| 3.2.12 @ 8:06AM
My wife and I hesitated before going to this movie because I read reviews including one from a Christian source (Plugged In, Focus on the Family). I spent 33 years in the Army. This movie is what the US military is all about in my book: the real fight in the world we actually live in between Good and Evil. I learned a long time ago that the toughest guy on the playground (i.e. the world) runs the playground (i.e. the world). We all should hope that the toughest guy on the playground is always a good person. This movie reminds us that there are still good people willing to stand up and be the toughest guy on the playground. Thank God for those who are willing to give everything for goodness and decency.
Ron| 3.2.12 @ 12:33PM
I appreciate the comment made by the author regarding military pay...Those E-5 through E-7s make less than an average administrative clerk in standard .gov jobs, which is a sad state of affairs.
I understand that all Vets (myself included) enlisted because of love for our country, but the pay is woefully inadequate for what they do...When I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska, there were several military families who had to get foodstamps.
I explained this to my 15 year old when we went to the opening...he asked if the SEALs got paid a lot of money, and I explained the rank and time in grade concept and he was livid! He understood they do it for the US, but he was livid that they were not taken care of better.
POST American| 3.2.12 @ 10:39PM
And NO ONE DARES talk about it-----
----------------------$$$$O $$$$$$trange
carnot| 3.4.12 @ 2:35AM
well...it would have been nice to read about some of the more interesting themes in the film. for example, the suffusion of NetCentric concepts into operations. what was demo'd has been known/around for a long, long time. I don't think many secrets were revealed. from a technical point-of-view, I found the camera work a bit disturbing early in the film - I was too often aware of camera angle and movement rather than the plot...and therefore detached from the action. I will relay this....I saw the film in a military community. when the film ended the audience reaction was strange - no applause, total silence, no immediate rush to exit. for an eternal few seconds everyone was locked into their seats. Something to do with the import of "Damn Few" if you ask me.