BrianHimes.com
I hope this doesn’t come off as offensive, but after seeing Letters from Iwo Jima Wednesday evening; I was amazed at how quickly I could be made to sympathize with the “enemy” after viewing things from their perspective. Perhaps the thing that I found most appalling was that I had to really keep myself from wanting to see the U.S. troops loose the battle as I became more and more attached to the Japanese characters in the story. I think it’s easy to forget that there are good men on both sides of every war when you only see from one perspective.
If you enjoyed this article, please consider sharing it!
Very good perspective Mr. Himes. I couldn’t agree with you more. I saw the film too, and I loved it. I found it interesting that we have always been taught that every Japanese soldier was proud to fight and die. We were always told that it was a great honor for them to commit suicide. Hearing this, it always seemed as though they were “soulless” or “unemotional.” Seeing this movie made me realize that many Japanese soldiers and families were/are just as opposed to, and apprehensive about war as people in Western Civilizations are. It was hard to watch this movie, but very necessary as well.