Anything that "blunts" war or portrays it as anything besides "the worst living nightmare possible" is a lie. There of course is wonderful art to be made that a

Anything that "blunts" war or portrays it as anything besides "the worst living nightmare possible" is a lie. There of course is wonderful art to be made that acknowledges that fact - Guernica, Saving Private Ryan, The Hurt Locker - but to me, it's critical to acknowledge this. The extras who are casually shot in action scenes aren't extras in the real world, it's an act of actual murder that is abhorrent in the real world. One of humanities great moments happened after WW2, or maybe Vietnam: the realization that war is not noble, that "pro patria mori" is bullshit, and that no one really wins. Our media must reflect this fact, even if it seems to have lost touch with reality everywhere else. It's critical to the discourse and to our continued survival.