Comments on: “Depiction is not Endorsement”: Representing Torture in Zero Dark Thirty http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/01/22/depiction-is-not-endorsement-representing-torture-in-zero-dark-thirty/ Responses to Media and Culture Fri, 12 Feb 2016 19:35:04 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.7.5 By: Chuck http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/01/22/depiction-is-not-endorsement-representing-torture-in-zero-dark-thirty/comment-page-1/#comment-391250 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 02:09:47 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=17398#comment-391250 I appreciate the question (and especially the clarification). I’d argue that in terms of how the film depicts the uses of torture, you may be right. But in terms of other aspects of the war, there might be a little more ambiguity, especially given the depiction of Maya’s reaction to bin Laden’s death, rather than emphasizing the more public versions of that narrative.

]]> By: Chuck http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/01/22/depiction-is-not-endorsement-representing-torture-in-zero-dark-thirty/comment-page-1/#comment-391249 Wed, 23 Jan 2013 02:01:03 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=17398#comment-391249 Oh, wow. I completely botched that. I misunderstood what she said. Thanks for the correction.

]]> By: Michael http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/01/22/depiction-is-not-endorsement-representing-torture-in-zero-dark-thirty/comment-page-1/#comment-391223 Tue, 22 Jan 2013 18:16:21 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=17398#comment-391223 Just to follow up (and not to appear trollish):

It seems to me that saying that the US’s use of “enhanced interrogation” was:

* a dark and regrettable part of our history
* motivated by a desire for justice, misguided though it may have been
* a “tool” that needs to be in the “toolbox” in the pursuit of terrorists
* ultimately unreliable, and thus not worth the cost

is totally in line with dominant US discourses on the war on terror. Challenging dominant discourses would have to go much further than that, no?

]]> By: Michael http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/01/22/depiction-is-not-endorsement-representing-torture-in-zero-dark-thirty/comment-page-1/#comment-391218 Tue, 22 Jan 2013 17:57:44 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=17398#comment-391218 So how *does* ZD30 challenge dominant discourses about the war on terrorism? I don’t see it.

]]> By: Andy Myers http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/2013/01/22/depiction-is-not-endorsement-representing-torture-in-zero-dark-thirty/comment-page-1/#comment-391214 Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:20:33 +0000 http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/?p=17398#comment-391214 The filmmakers did NOT receive military assistance on the film, as Chastain explains on the Daily Show interview.

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