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War Movies

Spend a day in class watching clips from war films, both frivolous - The Longest Day, Pearl Harbor - and supposedly realistic - Saving Private Ryan, Platoon - and discuss how these narratives compare to Grossman's research. Do any of them adequately dramatize the intensely traumatic experience of killing or not being able to kill?

The Killer's Conscience

Often the guilt associated with killing is only presented as a peacetime phenomenon, and it is often presented as guilt associated with killing for the wrong reason. Spend a class reading excerpts form such dramatizations like Macbeth, Crime and Punishment, The Telltale Heart, or watching an excerpt from The Talented Mr. Ripley and discussing how this killer's guilt is manifest in word and image.

The Shift in Killing

Have a discussion about action films in class, discussing how the trend in Hollywood has shifted from flippant, jokey heroes...

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