Fly On The Wall

In the documentary film Restrepo, the meaning and purpose of the film itself is very difficult to understand because there isn't a narrator to explain what to think and feel. Therefore we are left to determine certain aspects through the use of context and clues. One scene that stood out to me was Tim Hetherington's interview when asked if the film was political. Although the film was not intended to be political, he related it to the fact that everything we do as humans can be viewed as political. Such as, the clothes we wear and the food we eat. I believe that everything we do can be seen as political, even if we are not fully aware of it. With every action we take there are certain hidden values and beliefs that lie underneath. For example, if you choose to build a huge house in a really poor neighborhood you could be described as someone who is trying to one-up everyone else, or it's an attempt to show off how much money you have. Buying the most expensive clothes could be another attempt to showing off how much money you own. Although, there are situations when we might not think we are expressing our values in a political way we are. 

I think the central idea of the documentary film Restrepo is to express the life of soldiers throughout a deployment of fifteen months, The directors of the film make it very clear that it was not meant to be political. Personally i believe this film is political because I think the director is attempting to change the audiences opinion of war and soldiers. Also, Hetherington does a great job of expressing heroism throughout the film, which in return allows the audience to think more highly of soldiers than they might have thought before. In some cases it could be negative in a way that people don't want to fight for our country after seeing what they go through. Restrepo, a documentary film of the deployment of soldiers, was created to enlighten the audience of what soldiers go through. However once thoroughly examined, the film is seen as political because the directors are indirectly promoting war.