Representing Others

    In Sontag’s book a quote that stuck to me the most is found in page sixty three, it states “ The camera brings the viewer close, too close; supplemented by a magnifying glass- for this is a double-lens story” This brought me back to the movie that was watched in class. In the movie we were able to view the war from a Japanese perspective. We were able to view Americans how they viewed Americans, we were able to feel what they felt, and sometimes it seemed as if we were in their shoes because of the images we saw. The film served as a reminder that there are always two sides two a story. In war movies and war pictures usually only one side is depicted. In Sontag’s book it is stated that “With subjects closer to home, the photographer is expected to be more discreet” For example an American photographer is going to publish pictures that will depict Americans as the heroes and the others as the villains. It is rare to find a picture or film that taken in the perspective of the other. No one wants to see the villain hidden within the hero. It makes you wonder how supporters of this current war in present time would feel to view  a movie in the perspective of Iraqis. Would America’s “heroic acts” then be seen as an act of terror?  Like the American soldiers that shot the Japanese soldiers because they didn’t feel like watching them. Would Americans then be classified as the enemy? As uncomfortable as it may be, when an image can put you in the shoes of the other it is then that we can cherish the value of the camera. Throughout history there have been many war images that have been seen as indecent because they have shown the other side. However, the camera was made to capture both sides at every angle.