Comments on: What Does Brave Really Mean?

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:14:11 +0000

(my Internet has some issues and I didn’t want to
write too much and risk losing it all )
Now, I do agree with you that theoretically death is the easy way out.
However I am not quite sure if you are right about the state of prisons
- what with human rights campaigns they seem to be given more rights
than punishments lately. Not to mention being released early for a
variety of reasons. Well I don’t know about you but there are people
that I really don’t want to have among us. In my mind there is nothing
to stop a person who doesn’t have respect for the human life to kill
again and again. That’s why I’d rather have those away for good.
In the end, life is not perfect. I _know_ what people should do, you
seem to know too (let law handle everything, only the law is entitled
to punish, etc.). It just doesn’t seem to work like that in the real
world, does it? I think the subway scene sums it up best. Things can
get out of control so easy…
Not in the least I think this movie is about revenge. Not only justice,
but revenge. I am not a vengeful person, I would of course never think
about killing a human being – but neither me nor you have been in her
situation, have we? You know how they say, it’s very easy to judge from
the outside. She herself probably wouldn’t have thought herself capable
of all that.
Oh, and thanks for the comment on my blog – I am very looking forward
to finish the puzzle too but I don’t think it’s going to happen any
time soon as it’s HUGE (13224 pieces )

By: Kay

Kay — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 10:04:16 +0000

LOL. Of course that if had something like that
happened to me I pretty much doubt I would have had the courage of
going out ever again. Not to mention at night and/or in isolated
places. But she is the brave one Besides that, hers is the right way
not mine – isolating yourself after such an event is understandable but
to be avoided, right? Besides that she had the same right of being in
that train even late at night regardless to her past traumas. That was
a horrible event and I was really glad she had her gun – else it could
have gotten really ugly.
I started wondering about the situations she voluntarily put herself in
after a while too. I certainly wouldn’t have done that – once again
she’s the brave one In my opinion she knew what being hurt was and,
having seen in the subway how easy it is for a person to get hurt, she
wanted to keep people from harm. Just think about it – it’s all well to
wait for the police and so on – but there are cases when you do not
afford to wait (the subway) or calling the police is useless (the guy
on the roof). And while I once again agree that being a vigilante isn’t
the way to be there is no point to be idealistic about the police
either. Unfortunately one cannot be protected by harm 24 hours a day by
police alone.
End of this comment – to be continued

By: Alina Popescu

Alina Popescu — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 07:40:14 +0000

Hi Kay and welcome to WOBM
Well, I have to disagree with you. First of all, if something like that
would have happened to you, would you ever again ride the subway train
late at night alone?
Secondly, from a point on, she started asking for situations like
these, wondering the streets at night. And last, don’t you think some
electric shock thing would keep those men far from her?
Whatever happens to us, we do not have the right to kill others. True,
some punishments might seem to easy. From the outside. As rapists
generally get raped in prison, over and over again. Still, if one
thinks this is too little, the should support death penalty, not go
killing others. See, I see death as the easy way out. I think it’s
easier than, for example, getting beaten by cell mates or raped or
being locked in a cell where no one can ever speak to you. And this
last one is what I’d choose. I’d isolate wrong-doers. For as long as
they stay in prison, not let them socialize, exercise and have fun. I
would not mistreat them, but I’d leave them in complete silence.

By: Kay

Kay — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 07:46:17 +0000

I do not really agree with you.
I mean I do agree when you say that we shouldn’t all buy guns and go
out there shooting people.
But in this movie’s case it wasn’t like that. She had to choose between
kill or be killed (or raped by a knife or other “pleasant stuff”). In
her situation I really don’t see what other choices she would have had.
I for one have loved this movie and particularly its ending. As I
already said I know we can’t all buy guns and start shooting the ones
that did us harm but as every rule this one has its exceptions. Those
guys really and truly deserved what they got. Jail time would have been
too easy on them after destroying that woman’s life and killing her
boyfriend like that.
I don’t know, it may be just me but I do think that law sometimes
punishes people way too little for what they actually deserve.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 11:02:11 +0000

What do you think of “Mr. Brooks”, then?

By: Alina Popescu

Alina Popescu — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:27:27 +0000

Yes, Ryan, you are right. But at least those movies
keep a sense of authority (cop, FBI, CIA). Even if they do it on their
own, in the end, they have the legal authorities on their side. And
they are trained to apply the law to some extent. Apart from that, your
average action movie is so out of this world (see Bruce Willis throwing
a car at a helicopter), that fewer people would envision reality as
similar to these movies. But when it comes to a movie showing something
that seems so real, something that could actually happen to anyone of
us, it’s a different story. Yes, the movie does trouble you, or it can
leave you with the wrong idea of how things should be done. I doubt at
16 you are wise enough not to be influenced.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:27:44 +0000

Don’t shoot the messenger, sis.
I haven’t seen the movie yet, but from the perspective you pointed, how
is Erica Bain different from all the main characters of the last
century’s action movies? They all lose something/get caught up in
something and end up doing the biggest carnage since WWII. Even in
police movies, they get nowhere until they get suspended and take the
matter in their own hands.
But from what I understand, this is not your average big-budget action
movie, as Jodie Foster is not your average action star. So they took
all the big booms out of it and put in some psychological
introspection, and ended up with “The Brave One”.
So I’d say a thumbs up for Jodie Foster, as I take it this is a movie
that troubles its viewers, unlike all the others of its genre that make
“an enjoyable way to spend a Sunday afternoon with the family if you
haven’t got any better plans”

By: Alina Popescu

Alina Popescu — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 07:17:48 +0000

Hi Sia!
Yes, you are right, sometimes it feels like money is bigger than all of
us Still, I hoped for something more from Jodie Foster

By: Sia

Sia — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:18:29 +0000

On, a lighter note, thanks for warning those of us
who haven’t’ seen the movie, I, wasn’t able to help myself… I read
on. I agree with what “brave” should portray but a movie must strive
for what will pull in audiences regardless of ethical messages. Money
is bigger than all of us…isn’t it?

By: Alina Popescu

Alina Popescu — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 12:31:38 +0000

You are right, there are grey areas, but I think they need a different approach, not an entirely different system.

And the problem is not the mistake making. It is the lack of consequences That is the worst part.