Colonize This

Okay so I saw Battle: L.A. over the past weekend and I can’t lie, it was really quite good. I love a good war movie and more so I love science fiction/apocalypse scenarios more than anything!!! It had action, it had a bit of drama. It told the story of colonization from the point of view of the colonized so to speak.

Now when I think of  colonization I think of indigenous people being massacred, stripped of their language and culture, their progeny corrupted  and their women reduced  to objects and brood-mares for slavers and industry robber-barons.

This movie showed the invading force as non-negotiable murderers set on destroying the population and strip mining of the territory for resources and honestly it made me feel all warm and tingly. But then, I love an apocalypse! I mean I love a straight-up scorched earth teardown and this movie delivers…for the most part. I mean it started out strong but it lost me a little when three children came on the scene, two white one Hispanic. Now the Hispanic child was with his father, the two white children were with an Aunt, fine. The Hispanic father, upon meeting up with the soldiers, most of whom were Marines, immediately offers up his son of about nine years old for use in any way to the soldiers, no such offers from the Aunt. Hector is immediately made an honorary junior Marine and told to be a good Marine, to be brave, to be a good little Marine (said what seems like repeatedly to me in the film) Okay. The other two kids get no such pep talks, not once (not even when they are holding up the rescue efforts significantly later in the film mind you), what they do get is held and covered almost constantly.

Later Hector’s dad, on his deathbed after being fatally shot by an invader during his act of heroism (he picks up a gun to protect a soldiers life) speaks of his cowardice before the incident and then passes away. Well now Hector gets another speech about being a good Marine and his a brave boy in the face of his father’s death and the continuous onslaught of the invading force (this film seriously moves my friends). I love this movie and would watch it again for the whole apocalyptic aspect but I did not appreciate in the least, the Hispanic dad throwing his son the military nor did I appreciate the sort of G.I. Joe dude (played well by Ekhart) reiterating the importance of Hector as a Marine. Maybe it’s me but that is very uncomfortable, especially since some studies show a disproportionate number of minorities joining the military than their non-ethnic counterparts. Now if ALL three children were told to be brave, be strong, be good little Marines, then I would be just fine but that is not what happened….

Now as far as science fiction goes, this movie is thumbs-up, the military commercial geared at what seems like a particular group---I do not dig that. But to be fair, who the heck am I? I got no problem with military recruitment, not at all. I almost joined the military myself about a thousand years ago and my family is fairly militarily inclined but watching Hector being absorbed by the military before he can even do long division was a bit much to watch…I mean, maybe Hector was the one who was ultimately being colonized...

I made the mistake of mentioning my issue with the film on my facebook page and had to back out of the conversation because discussions of race seem too out of place for that forum.

Later taters

Stay cool with Karma

Us!