The Movie Blackhawk Down - A Story of Real Heroes and Real Mistakes

War movies. Some live on them, some hate them. Yet despite that fact, quite a number of Americans can say they’ve seen the movie Blackhawk Down or at least heard about the general plot of the movie. It is based on the true story of the American invasion of Somalia in an attempt to capture a Somali warlord and stop the famine and genocide going on in that country.

I have watched the movie several times. Besides the fact that it reveals how wars are started and fought, how people view the soldiers fighting the war, and all the political implications, I discovered some new rhetorical aspect interwoven in the plot almost every time I watched it. These aspects can be found in the actions of the characters, the facial expressions, the situations, even the looks in their eyes all add something to the story, which makes this movie deserve an academy award.

Among the first scenes in the movie is a meeting between an American general and a Somali businessman who is partner with the “wanted” warlord. At the outset, the Somali businessman coolly lets the general know he is doing a mistake by trying to interrogate him- and that in fact the whole American raid is a mistake. “This is our war, not yours” He informs the general, leaving him without much else to say. Disaster is implied from the start.

The movie then continues to show the sharp differences and contrast between the Somali mindset/culture and the American culture, which clash in the war.
The American Rangers and Delta Forces know how to let off steam through jokes, watching movies, drawing cartoons…the Somali have one thing in mind: war. The movie vividly shows the chaos in the Somali villages, buying and selling of arms in the market, relaying information about the enemy through children messengers.
The director does an excellent job of showing the unspoken stress and nervousness the rangers go through as they prepare for the first assault. Sweat on their faces as they pack equipment, excitement sprinkled with humor, yet seriousness as they hand death letters to their buddies who stay behind. Finally one scene depicts the conclusion many rangers/soldiers come to after they’ve been through combat: “After that first bullet goes past your head, politics goes right out the window...” A Delta tells one of the Rangers during a lull in the preparations.

As the movie unfolds, showing you how a 15 minute raid turned into a bloody battle, the director brings you to the conclusion that though the generals made mistakes in the Somalian raid, they were mainly hand-tied in the actions they could take, the soldiers were sacrificed, and politics was the main reason they were there. Despite all that, the soldiers fought for one thing: to stay alive and protect the man next to them.The last sentence in the movie sums it all up: “Nobody asks to be a hero…it just sometimes turns out that way.” And this movie shows how this reality often repeats itself throughout history.