Euphemism-free analysis of the ethical and psychological aspects of Hollywood films.
Good Kill
Drama 2015
Starring:
Ethan Hawke as Major Thomas Egan
Bruce Greenwood as Lt. Colonel Jack Johns
January Jones as Molly Egan
Zoe Kravitz as Airman 1st Class Vera Suarez
Jake Abel as Mission Coordinator Zimmer
Dylan Kenin as Captain Ed Christie
Synopsis from
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/good_kill/
In the shadowy world of drone warfare, combat unfolds like a video game-only with real lives at stake. After six tours of duty, Air Force pilot Tom Egan (Ethan Hawke) yearns to get back into the cockpit of a real plane, but he now fights theTaliban from an air-conditioned box in the Las Vegas desert. When he and his crew start taking orders directly from the CIA, and the stakes are raised, Egan's nerves-and his relationship with his wife (Mad Men's January Jones)-begin to unravel. Revealing the psychological toll drone pilots endure as they are forced to witness the aftermath of their fight against insurgents, Andrew Niccol (Gattaca, Lord of War) directs this riveting insider's view of 21st-century warfare, in which operatives target enemies from half a world away.
Translated Synopsis Without Euphemisms:
In the immoral scumbaggery of drone warfare, violence unfolds with a disconnect aided by technology and distance. After six murderous invasions actually performed in person, a member of an extortion-funded cult of aggression murders people from a distance. When he and other members of his cult start mindlessly following immoral orders from a different thieving mob, he actually starts to have a twinge of conscience and question his actions. Revealing some of the psychological guilt that order-following aggressors in uniforms with joysticks endure as they watch the aftermath of their crimes, Andrew Niccol directs this social engineering propaganda piece that reinforces moral relativism in the minds of passive viewers.
The purpose of this writing is to look at some of the weaponized terminology that is consistently sprinkled throughout the film. Specifically, we’ll look at terms that manipulate the minds of passive viewers into immoral beliefs and actions, in an effort to mitigate such manipulation. This analysis is done in the interest of liberty and higher consciousness.
I’ll roughly divide this post into “good news” and “bad news” about the film.
Starting with the “bad news”…...
Themes and psychological aspects in opposition to Natural Moral Law
1. Human Authority – Government and military portrayed as “good” and “necessary”
2. Aggression – Portrayed as “justified” in order to maintain freedom and security
3. Extreme Moral Relativism – Elaborated on more later
4. Order-following – Shown to be virtuous, when in reality, leads to the most horrendous evils.
5. Collectivism – Nationalism - ‘Merica! - Nauseating number of times that “saving American lives” is spoken, in an attempt to justify violent aggression halfway around the world. Also a divide and conquer manipulation.
Before getting into specific points of the film, I’ll give a fair warning:
There is no plot.
The film basically just shows a small group of “Air Force” order-followers near Las Vegas, murdering people with drones and missiles halfway around the world. The only other principal character is Molly Egan (January Jones), the wife of Thomas Egan (Ethan Hawke). The only thing that could be possibly considered a subplot, is the psychological problems Egan has and how it effects him and his family.
The scenes of the movie can be roughly categorized as follows:
1. Three to five order-followers in uniforms, working as a team (death squad), in a small box trailer using technology to murder halfway around the world, in places called Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen.
2. The same group of aggressors having meetings in a small conference room.
3. The Egan house, where the psychological problems of Thomas have a negative effect on his relationship with his wife, Molly, and their children.
Now we’ll dig into some specific terms and situations the film presents.
Two terms that are found on multiple occasions are “splash” and “good kill”.
“Splash” is used after a missile blows up the targeted people. This is uttered by the co-pilot. Immediately following that weaponized term, the pilot says “good kill”.
The term "splash" is meant to obfuscate the serious nature of the action. "Good kill" leads the passive viewer to believe that murder is justified and necessary. In short, both terms lead people to believe harmful lies.
Next weaponized expression: “You’re still making people safer, aren’t you?”
This is asked by Molly Egan, when her husband is expressing some of the difficulties he’s having “at work” (as a remote control mercenary)
Now, as most people view institutions based in coercion (military, police) as normal and necessary for “safety”, such statements in films play a role in psychologically reinforcing this immoral belief.
The truth is that actions based in violence are immoral, harmful, and cause slavery.
Next we’ll look at multiple statements made in a meeting of the order-following clan portrayed in the film.
The “highest ranking” member of the group, so-called Lt. Colonel Jack Johns (Bruce Greenwood) is voicing the fact that he knows there is some displeasure among the group regarding recent murderous missions, due to the deaths of innocent bystanders, many of whom were women and children. Johns, who has slight moral qualms about recent events, nevertheless attempts to justify their immoral actions, by stating, quote:
“Don’t ask me if it’s a just war. That’s not up to us.”
This implies that an offensive war can be justified, which it most certainly cannot be. Even worse, the line “not up to us” is also completely false and brings about horrendous consequences. It is an attempt at abdicating responsibility.
The TRUTH is that it IS up to each individual’s ACTIONS. Any one of those people can choose to walk away. They can choose to NOT pull the trigger. But they don’t. They continue to follow orders and murder. They continue to contribute to the system of slavery and suffering the human race is under.
In the same meeting, Johns says “It’s easier to kill people than to capture them.” to which another order-follower responds, “Well, that makes sense. If we’d capture them, we’d have to torture them.”
My jaw dropped and I had to rewind to hear it again, because hearing such blatantly evil things causes shock and disbelief.
So in this damaged person’s mind, torture is necessary. Not only that, but it’s better to murder, because it’s easier. And he thinks this is giving him freedom. Not only that, but he thinks that there is NO CHOICE in the matter. He says “HAVE TO”.
I have to wonder how many people that watch this film silently agree with this mind-controlled dupe’s statements…….disgusting….moving on….
Another member of the group, Vera Suarez (Zoe Kravitz), who is the co-pilot with Egan, voices outrage because in the previous “mission” they had blown up the first responders to the initial strike. The psychopath that had defended torture moments earlier then says that some of the responders could have been “combatants”. Then Suarez says that there is no way to tell for sure. Then the psychopath unleashes a Satanic whopper from his mouth:
“Maybe we could tell them apart if they had the guts to wear uniforms.”
This was another jaw-dropping moment for me, in which I was forced to laugh so as not to cry.
Such a statement implies that uniform-wearing, aggressive order-followers are somehow “brave”. This is the EXACT OPPOSITE OF THE TRUTH.
It takes guts (COURAGE) to think and act for yourself, to follow moral conscience, especially in a society where so many people actively engage in evil, either consciously or unconsciously. Especially when such courageous actions might cause temporary physical discomfort for yourself. That takes COURAGE.
It does NOT take COURAGE to murder people from thousands of miles away with a remote control! What it does take is IGNORANCE and PSYCHOPATHY!
Another interesting aspect of the film is that at about the midway point, the group starts receiving “orders” from the cult known as the CIA. What’s really interesting is that the people from the so-called “Air Force” never see the face of anyone from the “CIA”. Not in person, and not even on a screen. It’s voice only.
So imagine…..
Someone’s voice tells you to kill multiple people, thousands of miles away. In one of these instances, an “order” was given to blow up a funeral.
A FUNERAL!!!
And you pull the trigger.
Talk about mind-control, right? While on the subject of the “CIA voice”, we might as well take a look at some euphemisms uttered by that white-collar gangster.
“Permission to prosecute”
Translation: “Murder now”
“Follow Up”
Translation: Fire a second missile and murder the first responders to the first murder.
Now some insight into the moral relativism conveyed in the film.
Murder is good and necessary when it's done by people in uniforms with red, white, and blue patches.
Murder is bad when done by people that don't wear uniforms.
NEWS FLASH
That’s what moral relativism IS. The belief that the same action is sometimes good, and sometimes evil. This is a LIE.
The TRUTH is that MURDER IS EVIL.
PERIOD!
One more note about moral relativism in the film. On multiple occasions, while the uniformed death squad is surveilling an area and waiting for their “target” to show up, a man appears and rapes a woman. All members of the death squad watch in horror as the rape happens. One of them says, “He’s a bad guy. He’s just not our bad guy.”
Incredibly, the people that make up this death squad murder on the whim and order of someone else, without having seen any evidence that the person they’re about to murder has committed crimes. But when they actually SEE a crime taking place, they do nothing.
Why?
Because nobody “ordered” them to. Absolutely unbelievable.
Now for the GOOD news portion of the film:
The co-pilot character voices moral qualms about what they’re doing on multiple occasions. She states something to the effect of, “We’re killing them, so then they join the Taliban. We’re the greatest recruiting tool the Taliban has.” To a certain extent, that has some truth to it.
People that are being attacked, take action to defend themselves.
She questions the people giving her “orders” multiple times. Unfortunately, she doesn’t go far enough. She still follows the “orders” and is an accomplice to murder. On the bright side, though, in the end (spoiler alert, I guess…) she quits the “Air Force” (leaves the cult).
Now, back to Egan….
Egan’s conscience finally gains greater influence over his actions. Near the end of the film, he disobeys an “order”, thus saving lives of innocent people. Ok, he doesn’t disobey directly. He just kind of botches it and plays dumb. Anyway, he is punished for this, in the form of being passed over for promotion. This also coincides with his wife and children leaving him.
However……
At the end of the film (obvious “spoiler alert”), Egan is with his fellow cult of aggression comrades in the little trailer where operations are conducted (murders carried out remotely). He spots the rapist (the one who Egan has watched already commit multiple rapes of the same woman) again. Egan sends the others on break, thus leaving himself alone. He locks the door and turns off the recording equipment. He kills the rapist, then walks out and quits. The next and final scene shows him driving towards Reno, to reunite with his family.
Now, to be clear, I’m NOT condoning the action of judge, jury, and executioner. Especially not with a Hellfire missile. I'm sure less drastic measures can be found to deal with criminals.
The good news that I’m pointing out is that he walked away. He quit a job that required him to do evil. His conscience got the better of him. He started to change for the better.
One final thing I’d like to point out that I found quite interesting is a bit of symbolism.
Egan wears a cross necklace. There is also a cross placed prominently above the bed he shares with Molly. This is extremely ironic and hypocritical, but all too common in society, especially in the US.
Why?
Simple. The cross is a common symbol associated with Jesus. The stories of Jesus depict a true anarchist, which is the opposite of the violent, warmongering, order-follower that the character of Egan is.
Thanks for your time and attention!
Just say "NO" to slavery!
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