American made movies made war look unrealistic. In the movies the Americans where always the good guys that ended up winning. War is also shown to be the place where if you weren’t there you wouldn’t understand how it feels. War was a place where many lost their friends and made new memories and you learned how to not have emotions.
“A moral impulse is behind every American war. Wars are undertaken by Americans, even if the cause is mistaken, as crusades.”—The British commander is loyal to the American navy and doesn’t want to return to camp. Also when the prisoners are debating if it would be proper to escape from the camp—one says it would be disobeying the orders. Another example would be the civil disobedience of the British officers who refuse to do manual labor because of the Geneva Convention.
“Individuals prove themselves by participating in combat, which teaches truths impossible to learn elsewhere.”—In the movie a young soldier was selected to be in a mission to blow up the bridge and he was unsure of himself if he could kill a man but when it all came down to things he was able to kill the Japanese commander proving himself wrong. Also an American soldier escapes from the camp and runs away from shooting Japanese men jumping into a waterfall saving himself and then surviving and making it all the way to the British army command post which he probably thought he wouldn’t be able to survive. Another example is when the American commander is imprisoned in a steal box and doesn’t want to come out to prove a point which eventually he does.
“The foreignness of the enemy is a sign for evil—the only good foreigners are those who have acquired the cultural traits or at least admire those traits.”—The Japanese commander ate corn beef and preferred drinking red label Johnny Walker over sake, his design for the bridge wouldn’t work so he used the British architecture to build the bridge. Also, the villager that guides the Americans back to the camp to blow up the bridge, but in the end gets shot to protect the Americans. Another example is in the beginning of the movie when one of the soldiers’ bribes the guard with a lighter and gets put on the sick list.
“Americans themselves are better, friendlier then other nationalities and want nothing selfish in relations with foreigners.”—The American Commander turns down all of the Japanese commander’s offers of food, drinks, and cigars. Also, the Americans showed the Japanese how to build a bridge. Another example is when the Japanese commander gives in and says the British officers don’t have to work.
“If there is a conflict, Americans are inherently better at violence and will win.”—In the end of the movie the good guys (Americans) ended up winning because they blew up the bridge and crashed the train. There is also an enemy engagement in which the Japanese surprised the Americans during their bath but the Americans ended up shooting down all the Japanese besides one which runs away. Another example is of when the British commander tells the Americans about a guy who blew up multiple bridges before he got killed.