Wednesday, January 30, 2008

What makes a hero?

I dunno how or why...but I developed a penchant for WAR movies like Schindler's List, The Painist, English Patient.The latest I watched are by Clint Eastwood, "Letters from Iwo Jima" and "Flags of Our Fathers". Iwo Jima...this adds one more to the list of places I want to visit someday and "Flags of Our Fathers" to my movie collection. Quoting last lines from the movie....

"I finally came to the conclusion that he maybe he was right. Maybe there's no such thing as heroes. Maybe there are just people like my dad. I finally came to understand why they were so uncomfortable being called heroes. Heroes are something we create, something we need. It's a way for us to understand what's almost incomprehensible, how people could sacrifice so much for us, but for my dad and these men, the risks they took, the wounds they suffered, they did that for their buddies. They may have fought for their country but they died for their friends. For the man in front, for the man beside him, and if we wish to truly honor these men we should remember them the way they really were, the way my dad remembered them"



This movie is not based on the usual myth about heroism nor is it a patriotic movie. It indeed is a true story of 3 war survivors who are given undue credit, though the three do not beleive in themselves being heros. Its about the harsh reality and how its portrayed.

This kept me thinking..."what makes a hero?"