Monsters

     Gun shots everywhere. In the midst of mayhem and confusion it is discovered that Sergeant Larry Rougle has been shot and killed and the camera watches as his his dear friends and comrades are left to react. This scene in Restrepo was one of the most impactful, chilling and emotional parts of the documentary. The film shows the harsh reality of battle: the play by play of a soldiers reaction to losing his friend in the middle of a battle and the struggle between being an American Soldier and a human man fighting loss and sadness. 

     The camera begins by focusing on one soldiers face and his labored breaths as he tries to discover who has been shot, the camera then moves towards the fallen solder Sergeant Larry Rougle then back to the solder in time to catch his emotionally gripping reaction. This film shows the truth of a soldiers loss by portraying it exactly as it is, it is not a soldiers depiction of what happened but a visual of what actually happened,the viewer just watches the soldiers reaction and can immediately identify a source of loss within his or her self that is relatable with the soldier. Since the film was a documentary depicting real events, the only opportunity for dishonesty would have been within the personal interviews of the soldiers stories retold in his point of view, or in the omitting of scenes via cuts.

This film demonstrates the realities of war and the cameras strong ability to depict the truth, the soldiers had good and bad times which the camera caught, it tried not to glorify the life of a soldier by catching the day to day realities but it also did not exaggerate, it simply captured moments and strong emotions. According to Sontag in Regarding the Pain of Others, "Not to be pained by these pictures, not to recoil from them, not to strive to abolish what causes this havoc, this carnage—these, for Woolf, would be the reactions of a moral monster." This statement infers that we as humans should be able to empathize with extreme emotions or pictures and that should cause us to take some action. In that same way, not to be moved by the emotions of the soldier as he weeps for his fallen friend depicts a monster. Overall, watching Restrepo was like being a fly on the wall in the lives of the solders who helped build Restrepo. Modern conflict involving war is so often glorified in movies like GI Joe and in video games like Call of Duty that getting a clear documentary on actual experience of a soldier and witnessing the mental and emotional harm that takes place long after the deployment of the soldier is extremely helpful in de-glorifying the battles that American soldiers participate in.