18 January 2010

Band of Brothers

Band of Brothers was a TV series that aired originally on HBO. Band of Brothers is referring to an airborne army divisions known as the 101st that fought in the European front of WWII.The series takes you into the hearts and minds of what these men went through mentally and physically. The shows starts at boot camp and goes through D-Day, Bastogne, and capturing Hitlers own "Eagles Nest." This series is unique because the stories are all based off the men who actually served in the 101st and their personal responses to each battle are also included in the program.
The main plot is to stop the German army from taking any more countries and liberate those that Hitler has already taken. Band of Brothers focuses on many different aspects of human purposes. First off is the allied forces purpose is to stop the Axis powers from advancing and taking over Europe. The Allied's purpose was to serve as mediators to put down a tyrant in a time of need. Secondly is the role of the Axises. The Axis human purpose was to eliminate all non Aryan people and create a perfect world through the conquest of Germany. In creating the "Aryan world" the Germans would focus on killing the Jews, mentally handicapped, and gays and Lesbian people. This group of people through the perspective of the Axis's powers had no human purpose, they were put to work or just brutally killed which Band of Brothers portrays when they invade the concentration camps. It is quite clear on the origins of evil in redemption in Band of Brothers. The Allies portray the redemption and the Axis portrays the evil. Qualities of the empire that are portrayed are the following: militaristic, pain, suffering,proud, self promoting.
1. How does the Axis powers show origins of redemption in the future for what evil they had committed, and how their view of human purpose changes?
2. How did Americans react after WWII and did our action follow some of the characteristics of the kingdom of God, or were we completely contradcitory, and why/how?

2 comments:

  1. I would definitely agree with you, Dan, that the Axis powers displayed some very potent qualities of empire before and during WWII. To push things a little further though, how were the Allied forces flawed, and maybe even agents of empire as well? We should always question any scenario that pits absolute good guys against absolute bad guys, especially when it's offering an interpretation of actual historical events. Does the show portray the brokenness of Allied soldiers as well? If not, it's probably not telling the truth.

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  2. In response to Kirstin's post and yours Dan, I think that in any television show or movie, the 'good guys' are always glorified. It very much enjoyed the Band of Brothers series and have gone through them a couple times. I don't think this series, along with many others did a proper job portraying the flaws in the Allied forces. You always hear veterans say, "It's not what our officers made us do to them(the enemy), it's what we chose to do to them."

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