# Zero Dark Thirty - seen it! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228 "2013-01-06T04:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Red\_Barchetta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/21 "2013-04-13T19:38:03Z")
Just saw it. I really did not like it. It bored me to tears and I really can’t imagine much, if any but the core premise, was based on anything close to reality. The pacing felt really poor and it all felt jumbled together. I expected to see some of the preparation work that went into planning breaching the compound, but instead they launched right into it. I thought Hurt Locker was a far better movie. ---
**Author:** ![gladtobeblazed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85f322/32.png) [@gladtobeblazed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gladtobeblazed)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/22 "2013-04-14T05:28:59Z")
Meh. I thought it was a bit cold and sterile. I didn’t care about the lead character at all. Even the ending shot of her crying in the airplane felt emotionless to me. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/23 "2013-04-14T16:17:00Z")
Just saw it On Demand. I liked The Hurt Locker a lot, because that was a movie about people. This was a movie about bureaucracy. And not even a good movie about bureaucracy. I assume most of you have been in one, or at least had bosses you had to report to. If you couldn’t make a coherent case to your boss about a project but ended up screaming in his face “I wanna!” how seriously would you be taken? Jessica Chastain has no screen presence. Maybe that meant she disappeared into her character. The movie absolutely needed her to have an internal life that explained her crusade. We all understand that USL was a bad guy. We need to understand her understanding that. She gave us nothing. Well, a bit of lunacy now and then. Not really sufficient. The recreations were excellent, but I kept getting the feeling that I was watching a Lego version of reality except on a Hollywood budget. Maybe the hype affected the way I watched, but I was wildly underwhelmed. Spielberg had great set direction, too, but I saw people inhabiting the costumes. Here I didn’t even get good costumes. A big disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/24 "2013-04-14T16:25:02Z")
I saw it recently and also found it merely okay. I have nothing against Jessica Chastain, but she was miscast and unconvincing in this role, and one of the major problems with the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/25 "2013-04-14T16:57:39Z")
I saw it a couple of weeks ago through Netflix and liked it. One question, though. In one scene, Maya’s supervisor asked her how long she’d been with the agency and I thought it was said that she’d been there since high school. So was the idea that she hadn’t even been to college? Do they actually do that; recruit people right out of high school for intelligence work? And as for the torture scenes, they bothered me a bit but I wasn’t as offended by them as some people in Congress, since in this case the intention was to find Bin Laden. It seemed more purposeful and legitimate than the random cruelty of Abu Ghirab. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/26 "2013-04-14T18:25:28Z")
I saw it again with my wife this past Friday night and she really liked it - thought it was much better than **Argo** (though for some that may be damning with faint praise.) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/27 "2013-04-14T18:40:48Z")
The only real prop I have for this movie is that accurately portrayed the attack on Bin Laden’s compound as related in the book _No Easy Day_, which was written by one of the team members. There is a lot of misinformation out there about what happened. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/28 "2013-04-14T18:52:51Z")
It seems odd that this thread is so short. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/29 "2013-04-14T19:05:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > In one scene, Maya’s supervisor asked her how long she’d been with the agency and I thought it was said that she’d been there since high school. So was the idea that she hadn’t even been to college? Do they actually do that; recruit people right out of high school for intelligence work? This is the scene I was referring to: > [@](#): > > CIA director: How long have you worked for the CIA? > Maya: Twelve years. I was recruited out of high school. > CIA director: Do you know why we did that? > Maya: I don’t think I can answer that question, sir. I don’t think I’m allowed to answer. > CIA director: What else have you done for us, besides bin Laden? > Maya: Nothing. I’ve done nothing else. I thought that they were implying something about Maya’s background. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/30 "2013-04-14T20:38:23Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I saw it a couple of weeks ago through Netflix and liked it. One question, though. In one scene, Maya’s supervisor asked her how long she’d been with the agency and I thought it was said that she’d been there since high school. So was the idea that she hadn’t even been to college? Do they actually do that; recruit people right out of high school for intelligence work? I don’t know about “recruit” but I’ve been at a federal government job fair where I put in an application for a CIA courier. No college required, just a high school diploma and a driver’s license ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/31 "2013-04-14T20:47:11Z")
The torture scenes were necessary because the movie wanted you to question whether the hunt for Bin Laden was worth it. That’s what the final shot of the movie was all about. Maya wasn’t happy at the end. She was full of doubt, wondering whether everything she and the country sacrificed to capture Bin Laden was worth it. While no one who was waterboarded gave information that was used in the hunt for Bin Laden, other detainees who where subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques did give information about Bin Laden. The movie also never says any of these enhanced interrogation techniques were essential in his capture. Since the writer of the movie wanted the audience to question torture, I can understand why he would show someone being waterboarded who gave up information. It’s more cinematic that way, and puts all the questions related to torture in one scene instead of wasting time spreading them among multiple detainees. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/32 "2013-04-14T22:54:22Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > The torture scenes were necessary because the movie wanted you to question whether the hunt for Bin Laden was worth it. That’s what the final shot of the movie was all about. Maya wasn’t happy at the end. She was full of doubt, wondering whether everything she and the country sacrificed to capture Bin Laden was worth it. I didn’t see it like this at all. My interpretation of the final shot is that with USL dead, her life was over too. She had been a machine thinking of nothing else for ten years and now her life no longer has a purpose. She was crying for her lost self. There was no indication that the movie looked at whether the sacrifice was worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2013, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/33 "2013-04-14T23:05:56Z")
> [@Lakai](#): > > Since the writer of the movie wanted the audience to question torture, I can understand why he would show someone being waterboarded who gave up information. Because he’s an amoral asshole? He stacked the deck in favour of torture, by pretending that it isn’t completely useless. ---
**Author:** ![Lakai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de0a6/32.png) [@Lakai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lakai)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/34 "2013-04-15T00:54:50Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I didn’t see it like this at all. My interpretation of the final shot is that with USL dead, her life was over too. She had been a machine thinking of nothing else for ten years and now her life no longer has a purpose. She was crying for her lost self. There was no indication that the movie looked at whether the sacrifice was worth it. You are certainly free to interpret the ending that way. However, there are several points in the movie where Maya has to convince bureaucrats to keep searching for Bin Laden while they argue against wasting more lives or resources searching for someone who is no longer a huge threat. You can fall on either side of that debate, but the conflict is present throughout the movie. I also think the movie questions our motives for going after UBL. Was there sound policy reasons to justify our hunt for UBL, or was this motivated by emotional reasons such as revenge? The same question goes for why we used enhanced interrogation techniques to search for UBL. > [@Grumman](#): > > Because he’s an amoral asshole? He stacked the deck in favour of torture, by pretending that it isn’t completely useless. It’s not completely useless. It might not be the best method of obtaining information, but you can obtain information with it. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2018, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228/35 "2018-01-15T15:13:24Z")
I just saw this film. I hope it’s not out-of-line for me to bump this almost five-year-old thread. _Zero Dark Thirty_ seemed better than most movies but had a certain “blandness.” Yet the very “blandness” was intriguing. I agree with these comments: > [@piepiepie](#): > > I liked it. It was long but I found it to be engaging. I’m not sure what the takeaway was and maybe that’s half the point. How are you supposed to feel after chasing one goal for 10 years? Yeah you’re beyond happy, but what now? > [@SaharaTea](#): > > The torture, IMO, isn’t portrayed as good or bad. Whether the torture led to any useful information was ambiguous. The story is essentially apolitical. It wasn’t saying anything about whether the U.S. should have invaded Afghanistan or even if the killing of OBL was the “right” thing to do. There was no celebrating after the mission was accomplished and no jingoistic feelings of patriotism. It was just people doing their jobs. The final scene disappointed me, at first. I was expecting a final Hip Hip Hooray, perhaps Obama pinning a medal on Maya! Instead the poignant but rather “bland” ending was special and unique. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-dark-thirty-seen-it/646228.md?page=1)