saving private ryan

I barely watch any movies, unless they’ve been recommended by someone who has great music taste and has some of my favorites in common.

I started finding 90% of the movies to be a waste of my time, to sit there and be lost in a world where I lose track of time and my lower back starts throwing a fit. I only find some to be worth my time, something that would inspire me to become a good human being, to become stronger and kinder, something that would open up a new perspective in my head.

But most of it now is that same old mundane story, with a LOT of porn involved and it kind of fits into the hedonistic path. The stories are repetitive and the target audience is the 5-10 year old age group, and of course most people are still 5 years old in their heads.

But today I stumbled across a movie called Saving Private Ryan, I don’t know how many of you have heard it or watched it, but it made me understand the true nature of war, the depiction of it couldn’t have been more raw and whatever we see on screen nowadays about war is mostly bullshit, it’s just a lot of drama with special effects.

It’s not easy being a solider, watching your teammates die in front of your eyes, maybe you knew them personally or maybe you didn’t but they were still a part of your squad. 10 minutes ago you were discussing about your dreams and now they’re lying dead in your arms, life can be really fragile.

I sometimes imagine myself in these situations.

What would I do if I were in their place?

Now if this question was raised in a class of 30, 25 would say that there is no point thinking about it because it’s never going to happen.

The latter part is true, but that doesn’t mean you can’t think about it, it makes you an empathetic person, it helps you learn more about yourself.

Races, ethnicities, groups, communities, are just social barriers that prevent us from truly connecting with someone. At our cores, we’re all human beings, but we’ve been told otherwise.

This movie genuinely touched my heart. This is the perfect representation of war, the brutality, the brotherhood and everything else in between.

My perspective about soldiers has truly changed. There is loss of life but at the same time you have to wonder about the family that’s waiting for them at home, wondering whether their brother, father or mother is safe, whether they’re alive or not. This inhumane act to preserve humanity is sometimes seen as necessary but the lives that are lost because of an ego clash between two political parties is nothing but a waste.

Who decided that one person gets to sit at home and the other has to be out there in the field fighting for their lives, is it really patriotism? Was it ever necessary in the first place? These are all really big debatable questions that will never have an exact answer, it’ll range from one end of the spectrum to another.

This is what a movie should do to you, it should change the way you think, make you more creative and appreciate this gift that you have.

We’re really blessed, we don’t have to survive out there in the battlefield while scavenging for food and living on 2 hours of sleep. We have all the basic necessities in the world, everything has been handed to us on a silver platter and yet we still complain.

Imagine crying about your bullshit problems in front of a soldier that watched his best friend die right in front of him, or explain it to a mother that lost her kid. All of your problems will shrink down to the size of a pea when you understand how blessed you are. We should be better human beings, we should be more grateful about the things we have. Yet we decide to focus on what we don’t have and cry about it to God.

What a great generation.

With love and gratitude,
Harshit Jhamtani.