The War Tapes

This actually hadn't been th first time I had viewed The War Tapes. In fact I can recall seeing segments from this film many times on the History Channel and other related mediums in the past. What strikes me now, as I have always felt, is that this truly is the first time in history a documentary of this caliber could have even existed. Filming technology made these voices audible for the first time in all of history, which I find incredible. Of course, the post production editing made the film about what Deborah Scranton wanted to show. Also, in thinking about the nature of the military, I'm sure the film had to be edited down considerably by other outside forces before the footage even made it back to Ms. Scranton.

Upon the soldier's return to their respective homes, you cold sense how traumatized they became due to their experiences. This is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination- soldiers have been coming back from the front lines messed up for as long as war has been around. Yet with the invention of these helmet-cameras which the soldiers can use in every day life on the front, people can start to understand for the first time where these feelings came from. I commend Deborah Scranton for her efforts in enabling such commentary on the war.

The War Tapes touched on an impressive range of subject material. One I found particularly interesting was the discrepancies viewed on the television screens juxtaposed with what the soldiers felt was the actual war being fought. While we saw only the surface of what the soldiers themselves thought of the war, I'm certain there were hours of unusable footage Ms. Scranton would not have been allowed to use. Imagine a war-time documentary with no censorship whatsoever; the thought of the soldiers actual viewpoints being recorded is tantalizing.