During one of the darkest hours of humanity, World War II, left its defining mark on not only on those that were involved, but also every generation there after that has examined history. Hollywood has brought to life several films depicting various tragic events throughout human history, but the war genre reminds all of us how realistically terrifying these events actually were. Although the Battle of Guadalcanal was an important strategic victory for the United States against the Japanese in World War II, the film, The Thin Red Line, directed by Terrence Malick, intelligently magnifies the overlooked details of war.
With the explosive growth of media today becoming so rapid it is easy to get lost, and forget what lessons history can teach us. We need to address with harsh criticism how history has transformed society; furthermore, it should not result in each generation ignoring history as a whole. Any type of media produced or written that is released to the public needs to have an emphatic title that grabs the attention of any prospective consumer. The title not only peaks our interests as consumers, but allows the entire project to be ultimately defined in a condensed format. In law enforcement, a thin blue line is notorious for representing the police officers, and the protection they provide. In many cities across the United States, there is a single police officer that is informally assigned to a specific number of civilians. In some areas, that one officer may have to patrol a large radius alone. In certain situations these officers are outnumbered, and trained not to proceed into any situation without proper back up. It is necessary to apply this same practice in war because enemies often have a tactical advantage like the Japanese on Guadalcanal. The Thin Red Line demonstrates how important and crucial communication was in order to gain an advantage over the Japanese. In Green Hell the Battle for Guadalcanal, William J. Owens quotes Private Jim McCarson:
“It never came to my mind that I would get off alive. One time they pushed us back, you know, we advanced to the rear. They cut us off between the river and the ocean and we didn’t have any water. I don’t think everybody was willing to die. Well I guess the Japs never figured we would turn right around and counterattack. After we started back I actually saw some Japs sitting around. If they had been ready, I think quite possibly we would have lost.” (Owens 254)
Without open channels of communication the carefully planned counterattack never would have taken place. It can be bewildering for most people to comprehend the job that both law enforcement and soldiers face in tough situations. We tend to only focus on the fact that they respond in a courageous professional manner, and forget about the psychological effects they face.
Throughout the 1990’s we did not have a war on terror like we do today, however, the United States did act as an enforcer on a global scale. We have military bases across the world in order to protect ourselves, and our allies from any sort of attack on freedom. Essentially, our military has formed a thin blue line around the globe. The thin blue line parallel can be made here with the military today because of the war on terror, and the eternal war on drugs. In reality, this thin blue line separates righteousness from evil, order from chaos, and safety from fear. Contrastingly, a thin red line can refer to blood and danger. This is especially true in the famous Guadalcanal account, The Thin Red Line, written by James Jones. The military is very similar to law enforcement because they are both in protecting society from a chaotic environment.
The Thin Red Line excels by depicting World War II from the perspective of the United States soldiers. Terrence Malickpoetically portrays the psychological effects that war has on soldiers themselves. It is distinctively unique from many war films in the aspect that it expresses such dreadful activity taking place in an enthrallingly beautiful location. William J. Owens mentions that Royal Australian Navy Coast watcher Martin Clemens acknowledged that the island was stunning. (Owens 15) In Green Hell the Battle for Guadalcanal, William J. Owens quotes Martin Clemens:
“On the inside she was a poisonous morass. Crocodiles hid in her creeks or patrolled her turgid backwaters. Her jungles were alive with slithering, crawling, scuttling things; with giant lizards that barked like dogs, with red furry spiders, with centipedes and leeches and scorpions, with rats and bats and fiddler crabs and one big species of land crab which moved through the bush with all the stealth of a steamroller” (Owens 15).
Land topography and predators that cause potential danger to troops are often forgotten by the general public when examining any war throughout history. Even beyond land layouts and dangerous animals, each soldier’s storyline and narrative reflects the history of World War II itself by putting everyone in first person perspective. The lack of water, the false motivation, the fear, and the bureaucratic squabbling between ranking officers in the movie touches on things we tend to neglect.
As previously established our political policy has changed in the United States since World War II. “In two decades following World War I, the United States’ national policy was based on isolationism with minimal concern for political or military participation in affairs beyond American borders” (Owens 4). Upon entering into World War II our country was slowly crawling out of the Great Depression. As the war began rationing everything played an intricate role on the American home front. Many people joined their efforts together by donating pots and pans to be used as scrap metal. The idea behind this was to generate support for our country, our troops, and to assure that everyone had enough to survive.
Ultimately, the thoroughly multicultural 1990’s included an attitude of forced political-correctness in almost everything. However, the music, movies, and television shows all taught us something about life. The movie release of The Thin Red Line was no exception because it adamantly reminds all of us that even through political and social changes war remains an unchangeable constant in our lives.
Works Cited
Carey, Neil. On Bended Knee The Memoir of USMC, General Merril B. Twining (Ret). Novato, CA: Presido Press, 1996. 8.
Owens, William J. Green Hell The Battle for Guadalcanal. Central Point, Oregon : Hellgate Press , 1999. 15.
