POW Films
by There seem to be hundreds of dramas and war films based around the POW experience. Why are they so popular?
Dum dum dum de de dum dum dum. (The Great Escape Music)
The Great Escape, Colditz, Hart’s War, Empire of the Sun to name but a few examples.
It seems that the soldier imprisoned is more fun than the one out in the field with a gun in hand. Why is that?
Cover of Empire of the Sun (Snap Case)
We like to see the ingenious. We like to see the challenging , we like to see the plain gutsy acts of human kind.
Building a tunnel undetected is piece of skill, ingenuity and pure bloody mindedness. Perhaps we like the idea that adversity can be overcome, with a spoon and some pluck.
The scenes when the people escape, are often the dullest. They escape and they are free. The psychological dynamic of men and women caged is lifted. They lack the potential when they are free because they can do anything. To cage a man, creates challenge. To set they free, you only have to watch them flap away… Boring!
So watching a good film POW, it’s about potential, not about the escape itself. We want to see the people who could do something.
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