Redacted

6 September, 2007. 386 words.

I have mixed feelings about this upcoming Brian De Palma movie Redacted that everyone’s talking about (by everyone I mean some pro-war activists, who are raving about how De Palma should be locked up for treason). The film supposedly dramatizes the real-life incident of former Pfc. Steven Green planning the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. (Allegedly, I suppose I should add, even though I haven’t heard a shred of evidence suggesting they’re innocent, and even if it turned out the girl was an insurgent holding an AK-47, that still doesn’t justify rape.)

On one hand, an American film depicting American soldiers doing bad things is not particularly good for the country right now. We are in as much of an information war with these terrorists as a shooting war, if not more so. I can understand wanting to pull the film, and even agree on some level.

But on a more human level, that girl was raped and murdered by a madman and a handful of complicit conspirators. It did happen, and the perpetrators are in jail for it as we speak (one of them just received a 110-year sentence). If we censor the movie (which is what we would be doing, let’s not mince words) to protect the reputation of the American military, we’re saying to the world that the stories of innocent Iraqi girls killed in the conflict just don’t matter. The life of that girl — the irreparable destruction of her family — just isn’t worth our time. We’d also be saying that we don’t care if one of our soldiers defiles the uniform, shames his country, and commits heinous, premeditated acts of violence against non-combatants while on America’s payroll. We’d be okay with that, just as long as we don’t have to see it on film.

Or we could tell this story and say, yeah, those guys were bad apples and we’ve taken care of them, and they deserve what they get. Identifying a handful of bad soldiers isn’t (or shouldn’t be) an indictment of the entire military or any government policies. To me, allowing filmmakers to make movies like Redacted sends a more powerful message to the world than trying to sweep it all under the rug. As the saying goes, you’re only as sick as your secrets.

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