Wednesday, January 16, 2013  Zero Dark Thirty: A Nihilist View
of the War on Terror  It is almost superfluous to add yet one
more voice to the cacophony that is the response to the Kathryn
Bigelow movie, Zero Dark Thirty... yet here I go.  I held off
writing anything until I had watched the movie, as commenting on
something I had not seen would certainly have been unfair, and I
must still admit that my take is subjective, rooted in a
particular time and historical period, not to mention a set of
personal experiences that have sensitized me to the subject of
torture.  While the movie has already been honored by many in
the film world, with awards and nominations, including a
nomination for best picture of the year by the Motion Picture
Academy of Arts and Sciences (the Oscar), it has also been
heavily criticized by U.S. senators, by liberal or leftist
columnists and various human rights groups.  Having seen the
criticisms, the negative responses are certainly justified.
Screenwriter Mark Boal reportedly worked