War Movies

         I had a hard time remembering all of the war films I have seen in my life so I looked up the top 100 greatest and ran through it to see which I have seen:

All Quiet on the Western Front                                  Behind Enemy Lines

Saving Private Ryan                                                         Tears of the Sun

Full Metal Jacket (Parts of it)                                       Kingdom of Heaven

Black Hawk Down                                                            Alexander

Troy                                                                                       Glory

Tropic Thunder (If that counts)                                  Pearl Harbor

I love war movies. I have always had a fascination with warfare and combat in general. The only books I have ever liked were ones involving war. I can only think of a few movies that I like that don’t have any guns or action whatsoever in them. My life is full of things involving guns. I have paintball and air soft guns, the movies I watch have guns, the games I play always have guns and the books I read talk about them. I have thought about joining the military, specifically the Air Force or the Army, several times because of my fascination with war and I am still leaving it as an option after high school. 

The more I talk about it the more I become involved and interested. Even while writing this I get jittery to look ups new things for my paintball gun or different types of guns I can get, mainly air soft, BB and paintball seeing how I have no need for an actual gun. All of these interests are shown in my movie selection. War movies are my favorite of all genres of movies and I can’t see that changing any time soon.  I find them very interesting. I am constantly identifying the guns, looking at the things they wear and the technical jargon that is said when I watch war films. Another reason I like them most is because they are the most relatable. I can almost perfectly picture myself in the film, shooting the guns, making decisions and being the hero. 

These films are perfect for me because of my personality. I relate with the common theme seen throughout these types of films of sticking to your squad mates and having the type of instant reactions to save a fellow soldier despite the situation that soldiers must have.  I don’t think I would crack under the type of pressure that they go through. When we had to answer the question whether or not it was better to “let nine guilty men go free than have one innocent man go to jail” I found myself thinking about the situation if I was in it. I would gladly be the one innocent man to go to jail and have nine other guilty follow me. I have always being willing to take “hits for the team” to help others and I have never had a problem with it or have I ever second guessed my decision.

I feel that I’m getting a little to excited about the whole subject and you can probably tell I could write about this for hours so with me being sidetracked  I will bring this to a close by saying, I love war movies.

People Are Good

The films High Noon and It’s a Wonderful Life depict two very similar occurrences but show two very different outcomes. In one the main character is left by the town to defend himself and in the other the main character is saved and supported by the society. It’s a Wonderful Life depicts the more likely scenario because people help each other in troubled times. For instance after the massive earthquake that struck Haiti the US alone donated more than $500 million. After the tsunamis in Asia $163 million was donated. Also after September 11 over $239 million as donated and after hurricane Katrina over $580 million was raised to help the victims as well as thousands of people actually helped rebuild the devastated community.  Most people elect to help and support others in their time of need and in return expect others to do the same. Money isn’t the only thing that is donated. Each year in the US over 8 million people donate blood. Over 15 million units of blood are collected each year. There are also numerous charities and foundations that help victims of assault, natural disasters as well as deadly disease such as cancer and AIDS.  Some popular charities include The American Red Cross, UNICEF, The Salvation Army and The American Cancer Society. The reason why people help others besides the fact that it is the right thing to do is because they feel better about themselves if they help others. It makes people feel better and feel like they have accomplished something if they help another person in their time of need. 

http://philanthropy.com/article/Donations-to-Aid-Haiti-Exce/63756/

http://www.givelife2.org/aboutblood/faq.asp

http://www.dailypress.com/news/newsletter/dp-top10.charities.pg,0,7496730.photogallery