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| Major—Captain at the time—Terri Gurola and Gaby, Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport, 2007 |
Or maybe not. Maggie and Garver volunteered. Maggie reenlists after a 15 month tour away from her son. She says she shouldn't have to choose between her country and her son. Maybe—but being a soldier doesn't give her a choice. What is the old joke? If the service (marines, army, air force, navy) wanted you to have a husband (or wife or child), it would have issued you one. Maggie thought she was gaming the system. But perhaps war can't be gamed by lowly grunts like her and Garver.
1. Claudia Myers does not judge the characters. Maggie is a great soldier and, when she's around, a great mother. But how can she be both at once in wartime? She chooses the army over Paul. At least that's the way I read the movie. Do you agree or disagree? And if she didn't, how do you explain her choice to call Garver? Either way, she is willingly going to Afghanistan for another year or longer. Where even Paul knows she can get killed. So what do you think or feel about Maggie going back?
2. We have maybe four minutes left of the movie. What do you want to happen? This is pick your ending: what's your ending for it?
3. This is an addition to the usual assignment. I want all of you to comment on what one of your classmates have written. Just hit the reply thingie and...reply. Even if you're first, go back in an hour or two and reply.
And one other point: look at your responses to the previous post. The length I look for in a response would be about the length of Sarah and Sam's responses. You're always welcome to write more. But this should be a twenty to thirty minute assignment.
Bring You Know When The Men Are Gone: it will be our final readings for the semester. It feels like a year, I know, and you may have forgotten you wrote a paper, but I haven't forgotten. You'll be getting it back and along with it a short paper and a longer paper assignment to end the semester.
See you Monday.
Yes I think Maggie chooses the army over Paul. Both the army and Paul give her purpose, but she is in control of one and not the other. With Paul, Maggie is lost. Her ex-husband wants custody of her child, she must still deal with all that lost time in her relationship with Paul, and Paul’s sleepwalking continues to get worse and worse. In the army, she is in control. She is the leader, and she has the answers; she knows what she is doing. I think Maggie’s decision to reenlist and to go back to Afghanistan honestly makes sense and was not surprising when taking into account how fulfilled Maggie appears to be in the army. While she is enlisted in the army, she is forced to think about the “here and now,” not the “then.” Maybe it is easier to put things like the bomber in the back of her mind if she has other equally pressing matters (leading her squad; therefore, ensuring they do not die) on her mind. Maybe, in a way, it is self-preservation to put oneself in danger.
ReplyDeleteI obviously would like Maggie to live; however, I do not think she will. Every scene where she has said goodbye has screamed a definitive ending to me, especially the scene with Luis. I do not think that Butcher will make it either, as he evidently has his own problems. Every movie we watch in this class is depressing and leaves me speechless, so I do not anticipate a happy ending. I think a happy ending would dampen the impact of the film and the theme of values that we have discussed this semester. If there is no element of sacrifice in the film, we would miss the significance of a value. It is often for the things we love the most that we sacrifice the most, and I do not know that Maggie leaving Paul for another 15 months is enough to make that point.
I really agree to everything you wrote in your blog! I believe what you said about Maggie finding her purpose in the army and that it is a lot more straightforward than dealing with Paul on an emotional scale. I also really like the last sentence you wrote for the second question. "It is often for the things we love the most that we sacrifice the most, and I do not know that Maggie leaving Paul for another 15 months is enough to make that point". How profound! I really agree with this statement. I believe Maggie's choice to go back to Afghanistan is embodies this description greatly.
DeleteI hadn’t even considered that Maggie would die in the end of the movie. I had assumed that the movie would end in a bitter-sweet manner, but, now that you mention it, her death feels like a very real possibility. I agree that a happy ending will feel out of place in this movie (and in this course, but that seems to be the nature of true war stories), and it feels like Maggie’s death would be one of the few ways this movie’s ending can feel satisfying and definite. Plus, as you said, there has been some foreshadowing of Maggie’s death in her goodbyes, just from her insistence that she will return home.
DeleteI am the same way and in complete agreement with Leo on this one about your response. In fact, when reading your response I initially thought that you accidentally typed live instead of leave, and that you meant leave. I never considered the ending or possibility of the movie ending this Maggie's death, but now that you say it, it makes a lot of sense. First of all, like many of the comments, every movie we have watched so far has had some death in it and it would feel a little out of place for someone not to die. Also, having her die in the end would definitely make the points that the movie was trying to make a lot stronger and definite. One thing that I disagree with about what Leo said in his comment is that Maggie's death in the ending would feel satisfying. Sure, it might make things a little less complicated for Paul's life, but I do not think I would find that ending satisfying at all.
DeleteHuh. I never considered that being in the army would give her more control. I guess that's true, especially in terms of the personal fulfillment that being in the army gives her. At the same time, I would argue that as a parent with custody, she has some control on the home front, too. She's gained Paul's trust, and her husband's threat of sole custody is conditional to her returning to war. But she definitely does have less control and is less capable of dealing with everything; she's already signed on to another tour, and her plans of taking Paul to Korea are not well-received. Without leaving the army, it's possible that she would lose Paul anyways. But still, she did have the choice of leaving the army and I think that choice does point to some level of autonomy and control. Also, I never thought about her dying, either but it definitely is a distinct possibility. I think it would be kind of weird, honestly, if they used the last four minutes to show her death. For a filmmaker that does not judge, I feel like a death might read as a judgement on her choice. Moreover, there's enough subtle grief to what is occurring without a death to obliterate the complexities of smaller losses, like missing Paul growing up. In terms of the storyline and to save my own feelings, I sincerely hope it doesn't happen, but in a war, it is a real possibility that I'd forgotten about. Even if the film ends with her leaving again, I guess it would always be a lingering possibility.
Delete1. Claudia Myers does not judge the characters. Maggie is a great soldier and, when she's around, a great mother. But how can she be both at once in wartime? She chooses the army over Paul. At least that's the way I read the movie. Do you agree or disagree? And if she didn't, how do you explain her choice to call Garver? Either way, she is willingly going to Afghanistan for another year or longer. Where even Paul knows she can get killed. So what do you think or feel about Maggie going back?
ReplyDeleteOn the surface, I believe it is easy to say that Maggie chose the army over Paul. There was no mandatory enlistment into the army. Joining the army is all voluntary choice in the time frame of the movie. In addition, she even reenlists after returning back after she is done with her time. She understood that she missed a huge part of Paul’s life, however, she still rejoins. In a sense, she found something that gave her a purpose. She found something that she is good at: saving lives, and she intends to continue it. When she is in war, she knows she is needed in the battlefield whereas she says that returning feels like “a different world that doesn’t want you”. In doing so, it seems that she has to sacrifice her time with Paul to find her place and purpose in life.
On the other hand, one could also argue that she does it for Paul in a sense. It is not exactly clear why Maggie or any of the soldiers join the army, but one plausible idea is that she is fighting for her family. In addition, joining the army gives the family a lot of benefits. She mentions in the movie, “How else were we supposed to afford health insurance for Paul? With the amount of money you get from selling those crappy apartments?” It is emphasized here that there is some sort of benefit for Paul financially in joining the army, ir not emotionally.
On the point of her calling Garver, I think it was the right choice to make, and in some sort, the ethical choice. By placing Butch in charge, which she recomended, she comprimised a whole group of people who she told she would look out for them. If Butch was in charge, many men and women would probably die because of his actions. It is clearly evident that he is emotionally unstable and unfit to lead a squadron. “You want to kill? Is that why you joined the medic group?” However, I do understand the huge implications this choice will mean for Paul.
2. We have maybe four minutes left of the movie. What do you want to happen? This is pick your ending: what's your ending for it?
Of course, if I wanted a happy ending, everyone would live. Magically, a replacement fit for the title of leader, not Butch, would be found and Maggie would be able to stay at home with Paul for the time being. Maggie would be able to take full custody over Paul and catch up on all the lost time spent together with him. Maggie would be done with her service. However, that ending would compromise the whole intention of the movie. I think Maggie’s decision to go back to Afghanistan is the more realistic outcome, showcasing the sacrifices one makes with their relationships with those whom they hold dear to save the lives of others on the battlefield. In a sense, I would have it no other way for the movie. By staying, it would go against Maggie’s character in the movie and the persona she has become after being in the army.
Hi, Sophiaaaa! I had completely forgotten about the whole benefits situation with the army and agree that that does impact Maggie’s decision to go back. She needs to support her family. Also, I agree that Maggie is needed in the army. Paul has other people he can fall back on, and he is emotionally malleable at such a young age as in the grand scheme of things, he seems to transition from Uma to Maggie decently well. And yes, the army does need her. I find the quote that you talked about, “You want to kill? Is that why you joined the medic group?” really interesting as well. Medics have a dubious position in the army. They are the balance between life and death; they kill and save simultaneously. Wanting to kill others is the opposite of what one would assume of a medic.
DeleteHello Jordan!
DeleteLike Jordyn, I also forgot that part about her supporting Paul financially by joining the army. Although this scene is brief, I think it is incredibly significant in illustrating the double standard between women and men. As Maggie said if a man left their family to support them, I doubt it would be seen as abandonment. I would like to explore joining the army for financial reasons in class a bit more because I feel like that is a very real situation for many people that we haven’t really talked about.
Delete1. I don’t think Maggie’s decision to go back to war should affect how good of a mother she is. She tried her best to stay with Paul, but even her option to take him overseas is not ideal. It would have completely disrupted his life and taken him away from the other half of his family. Also, Paul’s dad and Alma were seemingly good parents after Maggie left for the war, so she is not leaving her son without people to care for him and, according to the beginning of the movie, will presumably still be able to communicate with him through Skype. She made the decision to call Garver because she felt that soldiers’ lives would be in danger if she did not step in for Butcher. Like Sophia, I think she knows that he is not mentally stable enough to be in charge of saving soldier’s lives. This to me is an honorable and selfless decision, which I think makes her a good person. Whether or not this was the best decision for Paul, I do think this was the moral decision. Lives would be in danger if she were not to volunteer to take Butcher’s place, and I think Maggie was right to call Garver.
ReplyDelete2. Like both Sophia and Jordyn, I want Maggie to get the chance to stay with Paul, but I don’t think that is what should happen. Realistically, she would have to be deployed again, as there are not many happy endings in war. I think the movie should end with her leaving for Afghanistan because it leaves us with a taste of how it feels to be wondering what has happened to a loved one overseas. The families and friends of people at war don’t know whether or not their loved ones are alive, injured, when they are coming back, etc.
I agree, I think Maggie’s decision was the moral one. But part of me wonders what would have happened if she hadn’t called Garver. She could have instead called the police, and gotten Butcher some much needed help without sacrificing custody of Paul. Or maybe, that’s not at all realistic. I don’t think there’s any way to know, but I find it interesting that she chose to call Garver first before considering any other option that might have killed two birds with one stone.
Delete1) I think that, while this situation is extremely complicated, Maggie still made the choice to prioritize the army over Paul. I think her decision was the most morally correct of the two options (to call Garver or not to call Garver), but part of me wonders what would have happened had she not made the call. I doubt that Butcher would have put the men in his unit in danger. He clearly needs to seek very serious personal help, and I don’t think his reasoning for being in the army are good at all, but I don’t know if either of those things pose a threat to how well he’s able to do his job. I think But her has a lot of personal problems to work out, but he is still very much qualified for the job, and I don’t know of Swann should have sacrificed custody of Paul just so she could protect her unit from someone who probably would have done the job well. I feel like calling Garver is the ethically correct way to handle the situation, but in doing so, Maggie had to sacrifice a lot, and I wonder if things would have been all that bad if she had just gotten Butcher help without uprooting the plan she had made.
ReplyDelete2) I think Maggie is going to have to go back to Afghanistan again. But this time, I think things will be different. I think that Paul will understand why Maggie is leaving, and I think he will be able to adjust to living with Richard and Alma again. It would be really great if Richard came to his senses and didn’t involve his lawyer in a full custody battle, seeing as how Maggie needs to provide for her family and the Army is the only way for her to do that, and so therefore she didn’t really have a choice over whether or not she re-enlisted. I think Paul could definitely adjust to Maggie’s absence again, especially now that he is older and can remember her better. He will remember Maggie and when she comes home again, he will be much more excited and relieved to have his mother back home.
I agree that Paul will remember her better, but I also think that her leaving will hurt him more now. Paul now knows, loves, and will remember his mom, so I think that will make losing her again more painful.
DeleteSimilarly to Keyes, I feel that though Paul will remember Maggie better, I'm not necessarily sure that this will turn out to be a positive effect. Because Paul is now older and has a greater capacity to understand his relationship with his mother and how his mother's decisions affect that relationship, I think that there is a very good possibility that his understanding will lead to greater feelings of abandonment and insecurity, even when Maggie returns home.
DeleteI feel that it is the correct decision. It is the moral and selfless decision. She chooses to risk her life and her connection with her son for a greater cause. I think others may disagree with me because her choice is a self sacrifice, but it is also a sacrifice for Paul. Maggie’s “boyfriend” said that a child shouldn’t grow up without a mother, but Maggie would be leaving her with a mother: Richard’s fianceé. She is being self sacrificing, but also self saving because she cannot live back home; the army became her home.
ReplyDeleteWhat I described above: she goes back, stays in the army for awhile until she can adjust to civilian life, Paul grows up happy with Richard and his new family as well as Maggie when she gets back.
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DeleteI agree that Maggie is being self-less by returning to the army. On some level, I think Maggie knows that Paul has a better life with her husband, and has chosen to give up her relationship for the betterment of Paul's life. I also think that you could say that Maggie is being selfish because she is putting her life at stake and not considering the pain that could cause in Paul's life.
I agree that Maggie is making the proper ethical decision. Do you think that Maggie could be happy if she stayed and did not go to war? Are you saying that her decision to go to war is a self-sacrificing one and a selfish one? I think that it is a lose-lose situation from Maggie's standpoint. I also think that you are absolutely right that Paul will still have a mother even if Maggie goes off to war. Alma also seems to be a pretty good mom, but do you think that Paul will be able to keep adjusting from Alma to Maggie?
Delete1. I agree that she chose the army over Paul, but it is clear that she will do anything possible to try to avoid having to make that choice. She tried to go to Korea, where she can take Paul with her, but after seeing how Butcher isn’t exactly a suitable replacement, it is clear that it is a choice she is going to have to face. I don’t think I would go back if I were in Maggie's shoes, but I also wouldn’t have enlisted in the first place. I think Maggie is clearly more comfortable and happier as a soldier than as a civilian, but she also is clearly happy being around Paul. I think when Maggie originally decided to enlist, it was the right decision as she was unable to connect to Paul, but now that they are close, I think it will be hard for her to leave.
ReplyDelete2. I think there is a chance (even though I’m hoping that it doesn’t happen) that Maggie will somehow figure out a way to postpone her deployment and spend more time with Paul, but I think that would be a terrible ending to the movie, as it doesn’t seem realistic and feels ‘cheap’. I think the more likely outcome is for her to deploy to Afghanistan, and leave Paul behind. While this will be a sad ending, I think the movie may end with a tear-jerking video call between Maggie and Paul, or something of the sort, to give the ending a bitter-sweet feeling.
1. I think that Maggie chooses the army over Paul, but for the purpose of Paul. In many ways, her responsibilities in the army reflect her responsibilities at home. In both scenarios, she orders and cares for the people below her. Her job as a medic and platoon sergeant make her a better mother because they use the same principles, such decision making in difficult situations. Although these jobs are similar, there are some important distinctions that I think Maggie has more difficulty understanding. When she first takes Paul into her home, she treats him like a soldier; she wakes him up early, commands him, and yells at him. But, as their relationship progresses, Maggie begins to understand the differences and this can be seen through the growing connection between her and Paul. Thus, although she chooses the army, she is doing it because she has finally realized that Paul is not another soldier and needs to live a more conventional childhood, which can be offered to him by his father.
ReplyDelete2. I think that Maggie is going to return home from Afghanistan. I think that Paul has given Maggie new perspective on the importance of her life to other people. Thus, I think Maggie will struggle to risk her life because she will think of Paul and make it back home.
1. I think that Maggie makes a great point in the film that women who focus on work rather than solely focusing on their children are viewed as cruel, but men who choose to focus on work are seen as driven. I do think that she is choosing the army over Paul, but I do not think that she has a choice. Either way, she is going to be unhappy and feeling like she made a mistake. She will be unhappy going to war because she will be thinking of all the moments she is missing with Paul, and she will be unhappy staying at home because she will feel like she is not living up to her potential. Ethically, she is making the right decision because she is saving countless people by going to war. She is choosing to help the greater good, but that does not help Paul and will probably cause him to have abandonment issues. Personally, I think that Maggie is making the right decision because if she stays she will be resentful of Paul and put a lot of pressure on him which will cause him to resent her in return. On the other hand, if she leaves he will also become resentful and will feel like she does not love him. I also feel like if you have to leave your child for months on end then maybe you should not have had a child because a child needs present parents. However, it is too late for that decision, so now Maggie has to deal with the consequences.
ReplyDelete2. This movie seems fairly realistic, so I think she is going to go to war because she feels like she owes it to the people she trained. I think that she will not reenlist this time, though, and will spend less time over there. I just do not see how she could not go after seeing how incapable Butcher is for the position. This time, though, Paul and Maggie will skype and Paul will not forget about her (I hope).
I agree that, in a way, it's the only decision Maggie can make in the situation, having already signed on for a tour, and ethically knowing Butcher's mental health is a bit of a mess. She volunteered. It's also true that the situation she's in is a result of past decisions that lead up to this moment, though I don't think it's particularly wrong that she did have a child, since a child does not have to have a perfect upbringing to be a decent human being in the future. And Paul does have a present parent in the form of Maggie's husband; it's just Maggie's role in his life that is in question. But mostly, I do agree and I think that not reenlisting would be my choice of an ending as well.
DeleteAlso, I basically agreed with you on the previous blog about the gender double-standard about women who choose their careers and still do, but I do wonder how much of it is also military-specific. Garver also lost custody of his children, after all.
Delete1. Personally, I feel like it's more complicated than just blatantly accusing or saying that Maggie chose the army over Paul. At the time when she decided to reenlist, first of all she was at a really low point with Paul and their bonding. She was discouraged, struggling with some PTSD and coming home to a son that doesn't really remember her and a situation/home life that isn't exactly the most welcoming of her, and so she decided to go back to a work that is familiar to her, straightforward with a set of rules and guidelines, and more welcoming of her. Also second of all, she didn't think/ know she was going to have to leave. Having to go back to Afghanistan, especially so soon, was a surprise for her and not something that she knew about when making the decision to reenlist. Her choice to call Garver was out of responsibility for her troop. When one of the soldiers came up to her and told her that he is unstable and not fit to run their troop and he couldn't understand why she was leaving them with him, she started to notice things about Butcher. This was not a choice that she wanted to make, the decision to call Garver and tell him about Butcher and about him not being able to lead the troop was about the safety and wellbeing of the troop, as well as out of concern Butcher, after what she had just experienced with him. I feel like you can not blame Maggie for calling Garver at all. She couldn't just leave the troop in the hands of someone completely unstable and unsafe like Butcher, she has a duty and responsibility that she has to fulfill, and it's also just wrong to continue to let him lead after seeming him in the state of mind that he was in.
ReplyDelete2. This is just so hard. I don't want Maggie to leave Paul again after they just got back to being on good, happy terms, and it literally makes me so sad for them if she has to leave all over again after all of this and all that has happened. Also, Paul has just had another really bad sleep-walking episode and I think it made Maggie really realize how important Paul is to her and how much she loves and wants to be there for him and protect him, so it will be awful and traumatic for the both of them if she has to leave him again. However, I do not want Butcher to be left in charge of the troop and I think they need a good and stable leader like Maggie. I think my ideal ending is that they find very randomly and quickly a new, very stable and good, leader for the troop that can take over and go to Afghanistan for them so that Butcher won't be unsafely in charge or Maggie won't have to leave Paul again and possibly lose complete custody over him and definitely mess up their relationship big time again. It's really sad though because I just know that that is not a realistic ending at all, and Maggie is probably going to have to leave Paul again.
I agree that the situation is very complex and that Maggie cannot be blamed for her decision. Also, I agree that the sleep-walking incident will likely make it even harder for Maggie to leave Paul. I also wonder if his sleep-walking will get worse. Is he still dreaming about trying to find his mom after she was first deployed, and is that why he had a bad episode after she told him about leaving again? I can imagine that he will feel very abandoned again, which shows how much Maggie is willing to give up for her country.
DeleteShe chooses her men because she can’t send them to be killed under incompetent leadership. I think she knew that Butcher wasn’t a good fit, but was able to ignore it in order to try and keep her son. But being confronted with his instability so directly, her sense of duty prevents her from letting what would be a disaster take place. While we don’t really see her bonding with those in her command, to some extent, the military is also a family to her. A repeating theme in this class is that, at war, it becomes less about country or God, but about not letting the enemy kill your friends. It’s about the people you know and are close to and are responsible for. She has to choose, and it’s not surprising that these duties matter to her as much as, if not more than, motherhood. And it is about duty. She was willing to sacrifice doing what she was good at and taking a relatively boring deployment in Korea in order to stay with Paul and stay in the military. I really do think it’s primarily because of her duty to her soldiers that she chooses the army at this point, not because she loves her job (though she does). I am reminded of a quote I saw in Nelson Mandela’s house, now a museum, by Winnifred Mandela. It was about how being married to Mandela meant knowing that the movement always came first, that he was for the people more than he was for his family. This is the case with many leaders, where their causes are consuming. Even on a less extreme scale, there can only be one king on the chessboard, one priority above all others. Especially with lives on the line, I can’t blame Maggie for choosing how she has. It’s painful, but I kind of respect her for doing it. She doesn’t betray her values, although it means, perhaps unfairly, that both she and her son bear the cost of her decision.
ReplyDeleteWhat I want to happen isn’t going to happen. In a perfect world, she wouldn’t have to choose. She could have a job permanently stationed at Fort Bliss for at least the next few years and remain with her son before going off to war again. But we already know that there aren’t any other suitable leaders for her group of medics. Maybe, at least, she wouldn’t have to choose between the two in such a permanent fashion. Her husband won’t file for sole custody, and she will simply have to begin the long process of re-earning Paul’s trust again next year. He will become used to growing up with a sometimes-there mother, which is better than no mother at all, and certainly wouldn’t be a terribly out-of-the-ordinary experience for a child with a parent who works any taxing job with very long hours. What I think is actually going to happen is some sort of obnoxiously sad farewell scene between the two of them, with a promise that she is coming back. Even if he permanently lives with her husband from this point forward, perhaps she will at least be able to visit him and take him out on the weekends and such. She will lose him in some ways, but I sincerely doubt he will be totally gone from her life. Perhaps it will be more like being an aunt than a mother, but there’s no good solution to this issue that can be covered in four more minutes of movie, if there was ever one to begin with.
1. Yes, I agree that Maggie is both a great soldier and a great mother. Unfortunately, the very nature of war and all that it requires of Maggie makes these two roles mutually exclusive. This means that Maggie cannot be both things at once, she will have to choose one over the other, and ultimately she chooses the Army. However, I do not think that Maggie has a great deal of control or choice in the situation, contrary to what her ex-husband might think. In some ways, the issue first arose when Maggie chose to have a child, despite understanding her job and what it requires of her. So in this aspect, yes I do hold Maggie accountable for her decision-making to some extent, however now I see her as a largely blameless woman who has been placed in an impossible situation. Regardless of what decision she makes — to stay with Paul or to use her skills back in Afghanistan — either decision will leave her feeling unfulfilled and unhappy in some way. Furthermore, I think that within the greater context of the war and her life, Maggie is making her decision based on what she sees will bring the greatest amount of good into the world, and from this vantage point Maggie’s choice is admirable in its ethical awareness.
ReplyDelete2. Ideally, the Army would be able to miraculously find a replacement for Maggie and she would be able to stay home with Paul and create a family with Luis and live happily ever after. However, so far I think that the movie has done a very good job at portraying the harsh, unsatisfying reality of war and the implications it has for those who are involved. As such, I think that a Hollywood style feel-good ending would be, as Leo put it, “cheap.” In the realistic version of Maggie’s story, she goes to Afghanistan, once again leaving Paul behind and… that is all the viewers get. Will Maggie behave differently once she is back ‘in country’ and when (if) Maggie returns home, how will she find Paul and what will their relationship look like? I think that by leaving the ending rather open-ended and inconclusive, the viewers will be able to explore the range of different possibilities and outcomes, and thus the movie will most accurately portray the myriad realities of war.
I like your first response a lot. Throughout the film, it seems as though everyone wants Maggie to make some choice or other, like picking between her family or her country, but you nicely point out how she is placed in an "impossible situation" where making choices will leave her "unfulfilled or unhappy" either way. And then what's sadder is her sense of duty to the greater good, a point on which you end, which I think we may see some of in the last 5 min of the movie on Monday.
DeletePrompt One: I don’t think that Afghanistan is at the top of Maggie’s list of paces to return. When she was negotiating with Garver, I believe that she twisted her words slightly. Yes, going to Korea would allow her to avoid choosing between Paul and America, but there would be no way to avoid that decision if she was assigned to Afghanistan. That is why she worked to switch out of that assignment because she couldn’t truthfully respond in the same way under her initial deployment conditions. I don’t like the idea of Maggie going back because that would be a painful choice to watch.
ReplyDeletePrompt Two: I would like the movie to end happily for Maggie and Paul. Had we stopped the film a few minutes earlier and not seen Maggie’s scene with Butcher, perhaps she and Paul could have gone to Korea peacefully, maintaining their relationship and not putting Maggie’s life at risk. However, now that Maggie has witnessed Butcher’s breakdown, I don’t think that her sense of duty will allow her to walk away from a problem she can fix. She knows that Butcher is too traumatized to go back a third time, especially not if he is leading other men. She’s witnessed his inability to lead even in training, and this moment where he puts the gun to his head is a breaking point: I believe that she will have to volunteer to fill his position, leaving the job offer she just worked so hard to get. Now that she is returning to Afghanistan, Paul’s father will likely try and win custody of the kid. This is a sad ending that I think is inevitable if Maggie speaks up. I think the only thing left for her to do is to make that choice—between country and child—even though she has promised herself never to do so.
I agree that Maggie chooses the army over Paul. After getting to know Maggie throughout the course of the movie, we understand that she has strong morals. I believe the reason she re-enlists in the army is because she realises the importance of her role as a medic in the war. Unlike Richard and many other people in the movie who criticise her for going back to the army, she understands that her job is not replaceable. This movie does a good job highlighting the fact that to be in the army one must have an unusual amount of strength and talent. Maggie is part of that rare group of people who are incredibly good at their job. Her decision reminds me of what the captain said about how his job is to be in the army and he recognises that he is not the “worlds best daddy.” Although this scene is sad, it holds truth because how can one commit to two very demanding jobs. When Maggie looses Paul, I think she realises that she will never be a great nurturing mother in the same way that Alma is. Maggie excels when she has things under control. She only finds this order in the army not as a mother.
ReplyDeleteI think that Maggie is going to go back to Afghanistan. War is a game of chance, and Maggie has been lucky and beat the odds so many times that I worry about whether or not she will survive again. I hope they end with her saving someone’s life in order to illustrate that her decision to leave Paul was in some ways worth it. I am optimistic that Maggie survives because this is a movie, but at the same time I don’t think that would be the most realistic outcome.