Man is a terrible creature, capable of such inexplicably heinous acts, against the world and against one another. Of taking humanity and compassion right out of bodies. Of senselessly raising children and youth to beat the blood out of the defenseless, all in the name of some intangible glory, or nation, or god.
That which makes us human, is also what enables us to manipulate it out of us. None are safe. None are stronger than our collective vulnerability.
I have stood before you, looked you in the eyes, on your knees, fear in your breath, and I have beaten your flesh to an unrecognizeable pulp, that you may die, and I may live. I have stared down the barrel of their gun and I have denied you for my own sake. I have returned to my own bed, been called a hero, and I can no longer close my eyes.
There is no army in this world
That can fight a ghost.
They make you promise till death do you part. By the end of the film, I thought, I don't know. If a ghost returns to live with you, a shadow of the person you knew, a person no longer able to live in this world you'd made together, would you let them in? Would you stand by their irreparable scars and pray for a silver lining, tremble in your sleep and hope that the sun may rise come spring?
And still, I thought, this is why I got into my line of work to begin with. To bury myself in the darkest, most dreadful terrors of the human soul, to claw my way into it and let it envelop me. I am so easily numb to emotion. Perhaps this is the only thing that truly gets through.
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