Terrorism In The Hurt Locker, Rendition And Zero Dark Thirty

Terrorism plays an integral role in the plots of The Hurt Locker, Rendition and Zero Dark Thirty. While each film uniquely centers on counter-terrorism protagonists, the films guard against painting with too broad of strokes by courageously puncturing the traditional good versus evil narrative commonly employed whenever terrorism is discussed. The three films, without explicitly deriding counter-terrorism, goes to great lengths to expose many of its pitfalls. The films are also praiseworthy for their exploration of the oftentimes nuanced dynamics that occur between counter-terrorist experts, civilians and the terrorists themselves. Overall the films challenge moviegoers’ presuppositions, exposing them to viscerally repugnant actions, morally-questionable justifications and a grey reality where the line between terrorist and counter-terrorist at times becomes unclear. In The Hurt Locker, the film explores and subtly critiques terrorist strategy, the fog of war and the ease in which …show more content…
In Zero Dark Thirty, one of the primary reasons, at least in the film, why the U.S. government pursued Osama Bin Laden so fervently was because of his legacy within Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. As long as Bin-Laden remained alive, he served as a reminder that the United States was not as strong as it was purported to be. Similarly, in Rendition revenge and the promise of religious salvation served as the motivation for many to commit acts of terror. In many respects, committing acts of horrific violence served as religious appeasement and certainly a powerful motivator when it came to preformatting the act of the deed. In The Hurt Locker as well, the disillusionment of the Iraqi citizens with an unjust American occupation too drove several individuals into the hands of terrorist