The film enables the audience to understand that O’ Neil being the only female in the training was challenged and how she overcame those challenges to complete the training that she had started that was traditionally reserved for men. The training was an inhumanly punishing regime and as a result, Master Chief (Viggo Mortensen), the other males in the army and society thought she wouldn’t even last for a week.
A woman with great courage and determination, she fought to bring down the idea of ‘double standards’ and wanted to be treated equally among the men. To do so, she shaved her head and worked hard on the physical exercises in order to prove to the Master Chief and the whole society that anything is achievable for a woman if she chooses to achieve it.
O’Neil also demanded to be held at the same standards as the males in an obstacle course. Eight weeks into the program, during SERE training, Master Chief tied her to a chair with her hands behind her back and slammed her through the door. He also dunked her head in iced cold water in front of the other male trainees as punishment for unsuccessfully completing the task. O’Neil fought back and in doing so, acquired respect from the Master Chief and other