Video
by Lizbeth ~ September 22nd, 2010. Filed under: Uncategorized.I randomly stumbled upon this music video from two Spanish singers (which some of you may or may not recognize). Although this post seems random, once you watch the video you’ll realize it has to do with the effects of war not just on the “hero” but on his family and the long term effects/damages that occur due to the time away from home and the things that occur while at war. This really touches upon the psychological issues that we have seen in some of our stories/movie so far.
It shows how once you go to war you are never truly the same! Since you are not the same, how can it be expected that the life you formed as your old self (pre-war self) will still satisfy/work for the new you (post-war self). This video truly captures this feeling (please bare with it being in Spanish, the concept goes beyond the words).
I was also watching a special the other day on PBS that dealt with post traumatic stress experienced by a few soldiers. They were explaining that nothing in their lives were ever the same, they experienced moments where they had nightmares (like the soldier in the music video) and one soldier in particular stated how one day grocery shopping he froze when his wife asked him to pick out toilet paper and he realized there were too many choices. He associated this task as a live or die task, like many tasks in war are. Therefore, for him it was not an act of SIMPLY choosing a pack, it had become so much more for him so he froze. These two examples (the video and PBS summary) show that war trauma, as we have discussed in class exceed the war field and bodily injuries; they live on with the soldiers.
September 22nd, 2010 at 5:37 pm
“Once you’ve touched the gun, your hands will NEVER be clean” – Dr. Sorin’s words during a jardhead discussion in class certainly resonates with what you’re saying. What caught my attention was the PBS special you spoke of. The post traumatic stress sounds really severe and I feel really bad for the soldiers who have to suffer because of what they experienced. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult ordinary, daily activities become after war.
As Freud would say, it is natural for the soldiers to suppress their experiences of war as a means of protecting themselves. Unfortunately, what tends to happen is that they either become detached from everyone or they release their frustrations on others such as from what we saw in the music video.
“And all the jarheads killing and dying, they will always be me. We are still in the desert.”
September 22nd, 2010 at 8:02 pm
Thanks for this, I probably never would have seen it if it weren’t for your post. It connects so well and appropriately with the class and the past few classes.
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