Has anybody else seen "In the Valley of Elah" yet?

[TZ]

Its Susan Sarandon's movie about PTSD and Iraq. Its really really good but very disturbing. I suppose if you are a fundie or a freeper you might not like it because the truth hurts, but really, outside of Platoon I think this is the best view of the horrors of war I have ever seen. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it..the very last scene in the movie really got to me...
:cry:

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. nope. aint seen it yet.

[cascadiance]

2. I just saw it and left the theater crying, literally! It IS disturbing but in a NECESSARY way!

One reason why I was crying was because even the movie doesn't completely give us the real scope of the tragedy that is happening out there, though it gives us a sense of the depth of it, and that it is a ticking time bomb waiting to blow up in America's face here!

Add these other statistics too and understand like I did after seeing this why I was probably even more disturbed than others that saw it.

Jeremy Scahill recently was citing statistics in one of his speeches that aired on Link TV or Free Speech TV. Consider these stats and do the math yourself!

Ratios of American military wounded vs. KIA in recent wars:
----------------------------------------------------------

1 to 1 - World War II
3 to 1 - Vietnam
9 to 1 - First Gulf War
17 to 1 - Current Iraq War

Now condsider the following stats of the last war like this one - Vietnam:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
American soldiers killed in action - around 58,000
American soldier Vietnam vets that have committed suicide since the Vietnam war - OVER 58,000!

American soldiers KIA in Iraq:
-----------------------------
3799 - Official U.S. military count
900+ - Civilian U.S. military contractors (aka mercenaries) killed
TOTAL - @4700 killed so far.

- Now if you stop and think on whether the suicide rate has any correlation to those wounded in a war do the following math:

Vietnam - 3 to 1 wounded vs. killed
killed in action = suicides afterword:
Therefore for every three soldiers wounded three of them committed suicide:

If we apply that 3 to 1 ratio today of wounded to eventual suicides (which I personally think is conservative given the lack of medical treatement and redeployments, etc.):

Eventual U.S. Iraq military vet suicides = (Iraq U.S. troops wounded / 3)
Iraq U.S. troops wounded = 17 * Iraq U.S. troops killed

Eventual U.S. Iraq military vet suicides = ( (17 * Iraq U.S. troops killed) / 3)
Eventual U.S. Iraq military vet suicides = (17 / 3 ) * Iraq U.S. troops killed
Eventual U.S. Iraq military vet suicides = 5.666667 * Iraq U.S. troops killed
Eventual U.S. Iraq military vet suicides = (5.666667 * 4700)

Eventual U.S. Iraq military vet suicides = 26,633!

Folks think about it. As noted earlier, with less V.A. help, more redeployment of current troops (PTSD or no!), I think this ratio is likely to be a lot higher! And my guess is that those that are wounded from this war are far more apt to commit suicide than in past wars!

26,000 folks!

That's almost half of what we've already lost from Vietnam suicides!

THAT was why I cried driving home from this movie tonight! When I saw what this movie depicted, it scared the hell out of me who might be standing next to us every day suffering from this! I won't go into it any further, as I don't want to spoil the movie for you, but THINK about the consequences folks!

I think that what this movie highlights is that noone really KNOWS the full scope of the consequences, given how much it is being covered up by everyone for good or bad reasons!

And it isn't just suicides. It is also violence directed towards others of us in society too! It affects us ALL!

Other articles on this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1180025,00.html

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0411-03.htm

http://www.allthingsdemocrat.com/2007/06/01/suicide-silent-killer-of-americas-iraq-war-troops-an-in-depth-report/

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-morale25aug25,0,3144924.story?coll=la-home-center

[SeattleGirl]

3. I haven't seen it yet.

And until I saw your post, I didn't know what it was about. Thanks.

[Fly by night]

4. Best movie I've seen in a while on any subject. Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, ...

... and a cast that includes some real Iraq soldiers. (Hope they're all still alive, but the way things are going these days, who can know? Question: What's more dangerous for American soldiers than serving in Iraq? Answer: Speaking out against that war.)

Unfortunately, Susan Sarandon has very little screen time in this movie, though her performance is nonetheless very powerful.

The real star is the story itself. Very nuanced, very layered, building slowly to a climax that no one expects when they enter the theater. A decidedly devastating film that everyone should see, particularly any young folks who are even slightly considering entering the armed forces.

Thanks for the thread. I hope all DUers see this film soon.

BTW, you should also see "No End in Sight", a documentary about the FUBAR cluster-fuck that is Iraq with the Smirking Chimp in charge.

[cascadiance]

5. It actually did well, considering it was only at 317 theaters this weekend...

Sounds like the theater chains were hesitant about pushing it with its "controversial theme", but it looks like it might have passed their "money test". They are more than doubling the theaters it is showing at to 700 this coming weekend. Folks GO AND SEE THIS MOVIE!

http://www.rttnews.com/sp/todaystop.asp?item=10

“Evil” Empire: Third “Resident Evil” Controls Box Office With Strong $24 Million Opening

9/24/2007 1:08:42
...
Oscar winner Paul Haggis' drama “In the Valley of Elah” also had a decent showing, pulling down $1.27 million on just 317 theaters. “Elah” will expand to 700 theaters next weekend.
...

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i74aeb29ab52bc1540a6f8a78564be4d5

Boxoffice uses Screen Gems 'Evil' for good
By Carl DiOrio

Sept 24, 2007
...
Warner Independent's "In the Valley of Elah" added 308 theaters for a total 317 and grossed $1.3 million, or an acceptable $4,022math says $4101 per engagement, with a $1.5 million cume. "Elah" broadens Friday to 650 locations.
...

If we can get people to see this film despite its lack of promotion and start making them money, it will be hard as hell for the theater conglomerates to "hold back" the slew of other anti-war and political films that are yet to come out this fall. It IS VERY IMPORTANT I think that we make a point of helping this film to be successful, to help our word get out this fall with many of the other "controversial" films to follow! Money talks, and is Corporate America's achille's heel. They might make it hard for us to get our films out, but if ultimately it makes them money, they WILL be forced to show them. Michael Moore proved that, and we can help solidify this by going to this film!