Posted on 12/13/2014 5:00:31 AM PST by Hostage
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I think our Japanese friends should wait to see the movie first before passing judgment; I know I am.
Young Japanese people should understand that the actions of their ancestors during WWII are capable of being carried out by any culture or society that fails to check within itself the rise of dictatorship and tyranny. In sum, this story appears to be universal to all people regardless of its particular setting.
From what I have read the movie is one of overcoming hatred and a rabid urge for murderous revenge by forgiveness and acknowledgement of a higher power. In reality, it was the power of Christ that penetrated and took hold of the heart of Louis Zamperini and turned him around so that he and others around him could be saved and go on to be an example for young people growing up.
Japanese and Americans are no longer enemies but Japanese people of today need a reminder so their young people never forget the consequences of the barbaric warfare launched by the Empire of their past. Humility has been good for the Japanese.
But more important as this film is said to teach is letting go of our hatred and our desire for revenge. It is also reported that Angelina Jolie who directed the film has possibly embraced Christ which is a great victory in and of itself.
Her father is Jon Voight, a rare sensible Hollywood Academy Award winner who is a Republican and who came to the realization that the Left is evil. Undoubtedly his political views and influence have been felt by his daughter and her husband Brad Pitt.
Watch for the Hollywood Left to continue (they've already started) to punish Angelina for her audacity to warm to Christ and to direct controversial (in their view) films.
Man, were just pissing off the Pacific Rim left and right with cinema these days.
Well said!...Very well said!!
A Philippine friend of our’s Grandfather and Uncle were beheaded by Japanese Army troops as a group of Filipinos were lined up for execution. Further family in line were spared from death when the soldiers broke for lunch and did not return.
Whatever torture and atrocities are portrayed is probably tame compared to what actually happened.
My friend’s father was captured by the Japanese when his plane was shot down. He was sent to a camp to be a lab rat. Without pain killers, they slit his thighs and sewed in pus soaked rags. Then they recorded the progress of his health. Luckily his camp was liberated before he died and he was able to get American medical help.
He never walked again though.
As a side rant, I do not hold modern Japanese accountable for the sins of their fathers. I believe they have gone a tremendous distance in putting the atrocities of the past behind them. Same with the German people. The only crime I would accuse them of is embracing idiot socialist policies that will inevitably lead to the same stupidity. Same for the dumb@ss Americans who voted for Obama. However as a people, I would not condemn them for that past history. I applaud them for the progress they have made as a people and their contributions to modern civilization.
Well stated...thanks.
And yes, my kin have fought and died in every war on the continent and beyond since before we were America.
For Americans, WWII for us began on December 7, 1941.
For Japanese, WWII in the Pacific began on August 6, 1945.
Actually, this film is likely to do very well in China, S.Korea and the former IndoChina as well as the Philippines, all areas that were under Japanese domination at the time of the movie. Cultural memory will give this movie resonance that matches their war-time antagonisms.
The Chinese President, Xi Jinping and other Chinese leaders just presided Saturday at a ceremony on the 77th anniversary of the Nanking massacre by the Imperial Japanese Army. Also known in the west as "The Rape of Nanjing", it remains a monument to utter barbarity as practiced under the guise of war.
My Uncle died in the Bataan Death March.
The Japs can pound sand.
The film is based on a book. I have read the book. Jesus Christ changed Louie’s life and he granted forgiveness to his torturers.
The truth will always be resisted by natural man unless their eyes are opened.
The ongoing fires of racism are stoked by forces that want to perpetuate the notion of “victimhood”, government dependence, and reparations. Many of us have moved beyond the color of one’s skin and prefer to look at a man’s character...but that doesn’t fit the modern liberal agenda.
The Japs, yeah those JAPS, have nothing to bitch about. They started it. They committed incredible atrocities, and don't try to let them off because we used the a-bomb on them, twice.
They got what they had coming to them, and they should just shut up and try to live it down.
This is nothing new. Governments for years have been trying to deny their recent past. Sadly, those who forget history are condemned to repeat it.
I also have a friend who never met his father. His Dad, a POW, was beheaded by the Japanese on the day their country surrendered. He was executed for his actions at the POW camp.
The Japs have really never really accepted the facts on what atrocities, their soldiers committed in other countries during WW2. I was one of their POW’s at age seven, in the Philippines, during WW2. When I was in the US army after the war and was stationed in Japan, I confronted the Japs, on what they did in the Philippines. They all denied it. All of them said, “JAPANESE PEOPLE ARE A “CULTURED” PEOPLE, AND THEY DON’T COMMIT THESE KINDS OF ATROCITIES”. Case closed. Eventually, even after almost 90 years, all of this will be exposed. They have a lot to answer for.
After the Pearl Harbor attack, my uncle and his friend wanted to enlist immediately. My grandmother told my uncle that they would come for him when they needed him. His friend enlisted, was sent to the Philippines, was captured and was a prisoner in the Death March.
It was a narrow escape for my uncle, who was subsequently drafted, sent to OCS, and became an intelligence officer in the Pacific theater.
I remember reading that the so-called rape of Nanjing was so horrible that the German legate filed a complaint with the Nazi government in Berlin. He was told to forget it, but it takes a lot to horrify a Nazi. It was celebrated as a great victory in Japan. Since I heard that, I have shed no tears for Hiroshima or Nagasaki.
One only needs to read or see the movies “King Rat” and “The Bridge over the River Kwai” to get some idea of how the Jappers treated their POW’s.
My father-in law was counter-Intell for Philippine guerrillas. Was translator for Japanese during interrogations and witnessed first hand their brutality. Was able to save a few of his countrymen by changing their stories. Eventually, he cased the garrison in NL, and led the attack to over throw it. He suffered years of PTSD from what he saw but eventually forgave them.
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