Director Kimberly Peirce
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Re: Director Kimberly Peirce
anon: Nice film. Thank you.
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Director Kimberly Peirce: Thank you for seeing Stop-Loss in theaters. I have been touched by your enthusiastic, emotional responses.
Many people are curious about how soldiers are responding to the movie. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell you a bit about the process of working with soldiers during the making of the film and their responses to the movie when I screened around the country (on our 24 city tour) and now that we have opened in theaters.
As military family and as a dramatist representing a story about real people who were risking their lives now for their country, I wanted the film to be authentic, to reflect soldiers’ experiences of signing up, fighting in combat and upon coming home. I wanted to use soldiers’ language, images, stories and scenarios wherever I could.
So we (Reid Carolin (our associate producer with whom I researched)) and I read and watched everything we could on the subject of combat and soldiers – from texts and films of wars past (i.e. All Quiet on the Western Front, Grand Illuison, Paths of Glory, Best Years of Our Lives, Apocalypse Now, Coming Home, Deer Hunter, Battle of Algiers, etc) to contemporary material written by people for and by people against the war, material by civilians and by soldiers about soldiers and about the war or “conflict” as some call it (i.e. Harper’s AWOL IN AMERICA, IN FALLUJAH, A SOLDIERS RETURN TO A DARK AND MOODY WORLD, etc.) as well as some of the excellent documentaries (Ian Olds and Garret Scott’s OCCUPATION DREAMLAND, Deborah Scranton’s THE WAR TAPES, Patricia Foulkrod’s THE GROUND TROOPS, Eugene Jarecki’s WHY WE FIGHT, Peter Davis’ HEARTS AND MINDS, etc. among others).
Reid and I traveled throughout the country to meet and interview soldiers (many of them vets from Iraq as well as his brother and my brother who was serving in Iraq) their families and friends. We sought Iraq combat vets with a variety of experiences and attitudes. We were looking for compelling and moving stories so that the story we ultimately would write would epitomize what soldiers in this war, in this generation were going through.
In an effort to document what we were learning, Reid and I filmed most of our interviews, beginning the making a documentary, which I financed in order to keep it independent.
Our first research trip was to Paris, Illinois to film the homecoming of 1000 soldiers from the 1544th National Guard Unit who were returning after a year in Iraq. At that point, this unit had had the highest casualties and an incredibly high number of combat hours, even though they were National Guard, because they transported the generals to and from Abu Ghraib over highways that were under frequent attack.
We spoke to military families awaiting their soldier's return. (I was amazed to find a number of military families that had had family members fight in pretty much every conflict and/or war America has seen.)
We spoke to parents who'd lost children. One man who'd lost his daughter was able to make it to the town parade to greet the soldiers who'd fought alongside her, but his wife could not bring herself to attend. This was especially moving and ended up inspiring the attitude of the family in our movie towards their son coming home safely after he’s finished his tours, and possibly not coming home safely if he were to return to the combat zone because of STOP-LOSS.
We met wives who'd lost husbands – one young woman in particular was only 19 when her husband was killed in combat. As a tribute to her husband's service and death, she and her friends had ridden motorcycles across the country as part of her husbands "last ride." We began to understand the toll combat and loss were taking on these young brides and on these communities as a whole.
We spoke with young women who told us they felt like their husbands were married to the military and therefore so were they. This was the life they’d signed up for. It was difficult but they took great pride in it. I was affected in particular by the patience, strength, and support the wives and girlfriends displayed. (you might want to look at our the VIDEOS on this website: LOOK TO YOUR LEFT UNDER MORE VIDEOS -- take a look at Lindsey and Sharla’s videos on the website, as well as the other soldiers- Kemp, Stuart, Dave and Keith, and to post questions and comments to them).
We also met husbands who'd lost wives and men coming home to meet their newborn babies for the first time; on another research trip, we went to Indiana to speak with Quakers who'd helped soldiers.
We discovered ways in which this war/conflict differed from prior wars. For one thing, this was a war where soldiers had immediate contact with their families and friends through Instant Messaging and MYSPACE and through posting pictures on sites such as FLICKER.
Another difference was that soldiers were recording their experiences, with one chip and three chip cameras as well as cell phones attached to their helmets, mounted on guns, hung from the inside of Humvees, set on sandbags-- basically attached to whatever they could attach them to, bringing the footage back to their barracks, loading it onto their computers and making their own videos with footage borrowed from other soldiers, from the internet and cut to music (rock, patriotic, rap (even rap they made in the example of the excellent 4th 25th which we use in the movie) (if you’re interested in these “soldier made videos,” I have a few posts about them towards the beginning of this site – check those out and if you have further questions let me know.)
In addition to interviewing soldiers directly, we set about finding as many soldiers’ made videos as we could, searching the Internet (You Tube, Ogrish.com, military.com etc.), tracking down soldiers and reaching out to the filmmakers/documentarians whom we had already looked to for research.
We amassed an amazing collection of videos. In addition to inspiring our writing in general, these videos became the basis for using videos in the movie and for the videos themselves – we either cleared the rights to these images or created our own with our actors, which you will see in the film.
Another difference we discovered between this and prior wars that influenced our writing was a feeling some of the soldiers had there was no real "green zone," because FOB (Forward Operating Bases) were oftentimes near cities that were consistently sending mortars a soldiers’ way -- at any moment a soldier feels he/she can be mortared on their base – I asked soldiers how they knew which mortars were dangerous and they told me “the ones that hit you.” They also spoke of the dangers and stresses resulting from the risk of being blown up by IED’s or car bombs on Humvee patrol and at checkpoints.
Additionally, some soldiers said they felt challenged by the nature of fighting in urban combat zones, which forces them to have to distinguish between the enemy and the innocent in neighborhoods and within homes with families present. And, because of better bombs, there is a higher rate of brain injury. Because of improved armor, many soldiers are surviving injuries they would have died from in prior wars.
I was intrigued and moved by so many of the soldiers’ stories (and the stories of their families), and in particular drawn to the depth of feeling and loyalty soldiers who'd been in combat together felt for one another - many said being in combat with another solider, being willing to die for them and they die for you was the most profound experience of their lives. They said they imagined they would be more attached to the soldiers they fought with than anyone else EVER in their lives.
So Mark and I were writing the story of our two comrades SGT. BRANDON KING and SGT. STEVE SHRIVER who had signed up after 911, willing to risk their lives to defend their country, their home and their family. These two men ended up in combat having the experience that nearly every soldier I spoke to had – that once you’re over there it’s about SURVIVAL and CAMARADERIE, protecting the soldier to your left and the soldier to you’re right, bringing him/her home safely. We were writing of the challenges these soldiers faced trying to protect one another in this urban combat setting, where as I say above the soldiers felt under consistent attack AND felt it difficult to distinguish enemy from non enemy. We knew the two soldiers SGT. KING and SGT. SHRIVER were going to come home, get decorated as war heroes and realize they had very different reactions to being in combat. There terms of service were done they had done 150 combat missions, two tours, Afghanistan and Iraq. King was looking forward to getting out, putting this experience behind him and getting on with his life; and Shriver was just beginning to realize he didn’t necessarily want to get out. He was realizing he might be more comfortable in combat than on following through with his prior plans to marry his fiancé.
Around this time, a patriotic soldier and I were IM’ing. He asked me if I wanted to know about something “fucked up.” I said sure, I always want to know about something fucked up.
He spelled out the words “STOP-LOSS.”
I looked at them and didn’t understand them. So I asked, “What’s that?”
And he typed out. “BACK DOOR DRAFT.”
I wrote back that I knew what a draft was – what we had in Vietnam, which I knew we wouldn’t likely get again because the American People didn’t want it, so I asked “What’s a BACK DOOR DRAFT?”
He typed back, “They’re recycling soldiers who’ve already done their time. They’re sending back guys who’ve fought and are supposed to be getting out.” He added that he was “pissed,” and when I asked why, he said that his best friend, a decorated soldier who'd done his time (with whom he’d fought in Ira) and was ready to go home to his wife and child when he was STOP-LOSSED by the Army. He said he didn’t know if his buddy would make it through a third tour (3rd and 4th tours can be deadly) and he was almost certain that his marriage wouldn’t make it.
This soldier’s story inspired me to focus our research on understanding what Stop-Loss was. I found out that in military terms, 'Stop-Loss' means not letting a military member separate or retire once their required term of service is complete. It can be used in a “time of war.” I found out that tens of thousands of soldiers had been Stop-Lossed to sustain the war effort (over 81,000 right now).
(Soldiers explained to me that STOP LOSS is a financial term. Stock brokers use a STOP LOSS ORDER much the same way the military uses it. A stock brokers put a STOP LOSS ORDER on someone’s money in the stock market, so that person can’t lose their money – they stop the loss of it, much as the military stops the loss of soldiers from leaving)
We focused our research on how STOP-LOSS was affecting the troops and their families, both in combat and upon their return. Some soldiers were frustrated, but accepted STOP-LOSS, some called it a "back door draft;" some claimed “the army was recycling soldiers who’d already done their time;” some claimed this was because enlistment was down and the public wouldn’t accept a draft.” Some soldiers claimed STOP LOSS was illegal because the president had declared the “war over,” and STOP LOSS could only be used in a time of war. Some soldiers did everything they could within the system to fight going back – they appealed to their chaplains, and their Commanding Officers; some filled out applications of Conscientious Objector Status; some filed lawsuits. Some sought to resolve things outside the system- they went on the run. Some ended up in jail. Some left the country. These stories were personal- gripping, tragic and heartbreaking.
Our movie, STOP-LOSS tells the emotional story of a young man who signs up for "all the right reasons," defends his country, leads his men through battle and comes home a decorated war hero hoping to put it all behind him only to find out he can not -- being forced back to war forces him to face his connections to the men he served with, his feelings about the war, and his desire to come home.
Because soldiers inspired the characters and the storylines in the movie, we tell the story as much as possible from the soldiers' point of view using their images, words and experiences. We include soldier-made videos like the many we discovered that soldiers had made. And we had Iraq war era vets look at every draft of the script.
In order to continue to protect and develop the authenticity of our depiction of soldiers and the events they and their family’s experience, we continued working with Iraq combat vets and brought in excellent military advisors (SGT. Major Jim Dever as well as SGT. Tom Minder) who'd served 25 years in the marines. These soldiers helped us to: design the battle sequences based on real battles, ensure that the soldiers’ and family’s dialogue rang true, and train (and train with) our actors.
SGT. MAJOR JIM DEVER, also designed a boot camp for the actors to train in the ways soldiers train (obviously paired down from what real soldiers go through). We also had Iraq war vets work on the movie and go through the boot camp with the actors so they could share “war stories” with the actors. To the extent that it helped, I participated -- took marches, fired weapons, blew things up, went out with the boys, drank, and skinned snakes. When I staged a fight scene, I had a stunt coordinator help me stage it technically and I had a soldier make sure it was accurate to how soldiers would have fought.
When I could, I cast Iraq war vets and/or soldiers in scenes that had soldiers in them so the actors could absorb what the soldier had experienced and so the movie would be a historical text of this war and combat scenario and these soldiers’ experiences. And we had soldiers look at the footage and script.
We gave all department heads and actors research packets, which they disseminated to people working on the film. It was very inspiring to share the research and then wake up and find my email in box flooded with new research the crew was finding. (My garage is so filled with research for this film, I can’t park my car in it). Throughout the editing process, I showed the movie to civilians as well as soldiers.
We just completed a 24-city tour across America and Canada (from November 2007 to March 2008) where we screened STOP-LOSS and did Question and Answer sessions for soldiers and non-soldiers in which nearly all of the audience stayed (something our field representatives said was unusual). I met many soldiers and military family members who shared with me their responses to the movie and their own experiences.
To give you a sense of the tour:
In Madison, Wisconsin I met a couple whose son was stop-lossed and is currently fighting in Iraq. The mother said of her son being stop-lossed, “It is the worst possible thing you can go through.”
In Boulder, Colorado a young vet stood up and cried- he was having trouble adjusting to life after Iraq and said to me, “You got it right- how could you know? You accurately portrayed what it was like.” He also turned to the audience and said, “I did it for you- you don’t know what I went through, I gave up my life for you.” Audience members cried when he spoke and it was an intense and emotionally moving experience for all.
In San Diego, California wounded veterans and members of a group called Wounded Warriors stood up and thanked us for “getting it right.” One wounded Iraq veteran Mike told us that if he could, he would go back to his men, because “it is hard to be a father and husband and I miss my guys.”
In Miami, Florida, a Vietnam Vet stood up during the Q&A and told us, “I lost my humanity…I’ve worked my whole live to get it back. When you are in the army they strip away your humanity to turn you into machines.”
In Boston, Massachusetts, a girl came up to me after the screening in tears and said her brother had just been shipped to Iraq and this film helped her to understand it. Also, a WWII vet and a Vietnam vet got into a heated argument about war, but both agreed that this film was accurate and was the current generation’s classic war film.
Finally, in Los Angeles at a VA hospital, a group of Iraq Veterans Against the War talked about their experiences and said that Stop-Loss happens, in even greater numbers than we know, and vets come home struggling to re-assimilate to their old lives, families and communities. I have heard from stop-lossed soldiers who have said, “I was stop-lossed and love my country but stop-loss is an unfair policy and I’m glad this movie shed light on this injustice.”
Along our tour and on our websites (Here and on www.facebook.com/stoplossmovie, www.myspace.com/stoplossmovie), people have made passionate comments as you are making –
I have also heard from Military wives who have seen Stop-Loss and have thanked us for showing how hard it is for their husbands to be oversees/for them to take care of their newborn children that their husbands have never met/to hold back their emotions and their problems as they stand by and support their soldiers. Many military wives and military family members and soldiers wanted to make sure Stop-Loss gives honor to the soldier and shows the brotherhood in a pro-soldier way. Upon seeing the film they have thanked us for doing just that and for showing the longing for home, shedding light on the problems many of their friends and siblings have experienced when coming home (PTSD), and showing the fun and camaraderie that is such a core part of being in the military for many people.
Xx kp
Many people are curious about how soldiers are responding to the movie. So I thought I’d take the opportunity to tell you a bit about the process of working with soldiers during the making of the film and their responses to the movie when I screened around the country (on our 24 city tour) and now that we have opened in theaters.
As military family and as a dramatist representing a story about real people who were risking their lives now for their country, I wanted the film to be authentic, to reflect soldiers’ experiences of signing up, fighting in combat and upon coming home. I wanted to use soldiers’ language, images, stories and scenarios wherever I could.
So we (Reid Carolin (our associate producer with whom I researched)) and I read and watched everything we could on the subject of combat and soldiers – from texts and films of wars past (i.e. All Quiet on the Western Front, Grand Illuison, Paths of Glory, Best Years of Our Lives, Apocalypse Now, Coming Home, Deer Hunter, Battle of Algiers, etc) to contemporary material written by people for and by people against the war, material by civilians and by soldiers about soldiers and about the war or “conflict” as some call it (i.e. Harper’s AWOL IN AMERICA, IN FALLUJAH, A SOLDIERS RETURN TO A DARK AND MOODY WORLD, etc.) as well as some of the excellent documentaries (Ian Olds and Garret Scott’s OCCUPATION DREAMLAND, Deborah Scranton’s THE WAR TAPES, Patricia Foulkrod’s THE GROUND TROOPS, Eugene Jarecki’s WHY WE FIGHT, Peter Davis’ HEARTS AND MINDS, etc. among others).
Reid and I traveled throughout the country to meet and interview soldiers (many of them vets from Iraq as well as his brother and my brother who was serving in Iraq) their families and friends. We sought Iraq combat vets with a variety of experiences and attitudes. We were looking for compelling and moving stories so that the story we ultimately would write would epitomize what soldiers in this war, in this generation were going through.
In an effort to document what we were learning, Reid and I filmed most of our interviews, beginning the making a documentary, which I financed in order to keep it independent.
Our first research trip was to Paris, Illinois to film the homecoming of 1000 soldiers from the 1544th National Guard Unit who were returning after a year in Iraq. At that point, this unit had had the highest casualties and an incredibly high number of combat hours, even though they were National Guard, because they transported the generals to and from Abu Ghraib over highways that were under frequent attack.
We spoke to military families awaiting their soldier's return. (I was amazed to find a number of military families that had had family members fight in pretty much every conflict and/or war America has seen.)
We spoke to parents who'd lost children. One man who'd lost his daughter was able to make it to the town parade to greet the soldiers who'd fought alongside her, but his wife could not bring herself to attend. This was especially moving and ended up inspiring the attitude of the family in our movie towards their son coming home safely after he’s finished his tours, and possibly not coming home safely if he were to return to the combat zone because of STOP-LOSS.
We met wives who'd lost husbands – one young woman in particular was only 19 when her husband was killed in combat. As a tribute to her husband's service and death, she and her friends had ridden motorcycles across the country as part of her husbands "last ride." We began to understand the toll combat and loss were taking on these young brides and on these communities as a whole.
We spoke with young women who told us they felt like their husbands were married to the military and therefore so were they. This was the life they’d signed up for. It was difficult but they took great pride in it. I was affected in particular by the patience, strength, and support the wives and girlfriends displayed. (you might want to look at our the VIDEOS on this website: LOOK TO YOUR LEFT UNDER MORE VIDEOS -- take a look at Lindsey and Sharla’s videos on the website, as well as the other soldiers- Kemp, Stuart, Dave and Keith, and to post questions and comments to them).
We also met husbands who'd lost wives and men coming home to meet their newborn babies for the first time; on another research trip, we went to Indiana to speak with Quakers who'd helped soldiers.
We discovered ways in which this war/conflict differed from prior wars. For one thing, this was a war where soldiers had immediate contact with their families and friends through Instant Messaging and MYSPACE and through posting pictures on sites such as FLICKER.
Another difference was that soldiers were recording their experiences, with one chip and three chip cameras as well as cell phones attached to their helmets, mounted on guns, hung from the inside of Humvees, set on sandbags-- basically attached to whatever they could attach them to, bringing the footage back to their barracks, loading it onto their computers and making their own videos with footage borrowed from other soldiers, from the internet and cut to music (rock, patriotic, rap (even rap they made in the example of the excellent 4th 25th which we use in the movie) (if you’re interested in these “soldier made videos,” I have a few posts about them towards the beginning of this site – check those out and if you have further questions let me know.)
In addition to interviewing soldiers directly, we set about finding as many soldiers’ made videos as we could, searching the Internet (You Tube, Ogrish.com, military.com etc.), tracking down soldiers and reaching out to the filmmakers/documentarians whom we had already looked to for research.
We amassed an amazing collection of videos. In addition to inspiring our writing in general, these videos became the basis for using videos in the movie and for the videos themselves – we either cleared the rights to these images or created our own with our actors, which you will see in the film.
Another difference we discovered between this and prior wars that influenced our writing was a feeling some of the soldiers had there was no real "green zone," because FOB (Forward Operating Bases) were oftentimes near cities that were consistently sending mortars a soldiers’ way -- at any moment a soldier feels he/she can be mortared on their base – I asked soldiers how they knew which mortars were dangerous and they told me “the ones that hit you.” They also spoke of the dangers and stresses resulting from the risk of being blown up by IED’s or car bombs on Humvee patrol and at checkpoints.
Additionally, some soldiers said they felt challenged by the nature of fighting in urban combat zones, which forces them to have to distinguish between the enemy and the innocent in neighborhoods and within homes with families present. And, because of better bombs, there is a higher rate of brain injury. Because of improved armor, many soldiers are surviving injuries they would have died from in prior wars.
I was intrigued and moved by so many of the soldiers’ stories (and the stories of their families), and in particular drawn to the depth of feeling and loyalty soldiers who'd been in combat together felt for one another - many said being in combat with another solider, being willing to die for them and they die for you was the most profound experience of their lives. They said they imagined they would be more attached to the soldiers they fought with than anyone else EVER in their lives.
So Mark and I were writing the story of our two comrades SGT. BRANDON KING and SGT. STEVE SHRIVER who had signed up after 911, willing to risk their lives to defend their country, their home and their family. These two men ended up in combat having the experience that nearly every soldier I spoke to had – that once you’re over there it’s about SURVIVAL and CAMARADERIE, protecting the soldier to your left and the soldier to you’re right, bringing him/her home safely. We were writing of the challenges these soldiers faced trying to protect one another in this urban combat setting, where as I say above the soldiers felt under consistent attack AND felt it difficult to distinguish enemy from non enemy. We knew the two soldiers SGT. KING and SGT. SHRIVER were going to come home, get decorated as war heroes and realize they had very different reactions to being in combat. There terms of service were done they had done 150 combat missions, two tours, Afghanistan and Iraq. King was looking forward to getting out, putting this experience behind him and getting on with his life; and Shriver was just beginning to realize he didn’t necessarily want to get out. He was realizing he might be more comfortable in combat than on following through with his prior plans to marry his fiancé.
Around this time, a patriotic soldier and I were IM’ing. He asked me if I wanted to know about something “fucked up.” I said sure, I always want to know about something fucked up.
He spelled out the words “STOP-LOSS.”
I looked at them and didn’t understand them. So I asked, “What’s that?”
And he typed out. “BACK DOOR DRAFT.”
I wrote back that I knew what a draft was – what we had in Vietnam, which I knew we wouldn’t likely get again because the American People didn’t want it, so I asked “What’s a BACK DOOR DRAFT?”
He typed back, “They’re recycling soldiers who’ve already done their time. They’re sending back guys who’ve fought and are supposed to be getting out.” He added that he was “pissed,” and when I asked why, he said that his best friend, a decorated soldier who'd done his time (with whom he’d fought in Ira) and was ready to go home to his wife and child when he was STOP-LOSSED by the Army. He said he didn’t know if his buddy would make it through a third tour (3rd and 4th tours can be deadly) and he was almost certain that his marriage wouldn’t make it.
This soldier’s story inspired me to focus our research on understanding what Stop-Loss was. I found out that in military terms, 'Stop-Loss' means not letting a military member separate or retire once their required term of service is complete. It can be used in a “time of war.” I found out that tens of thousands of soldiers had been Stop-Lossed to sustain the war effort (over 81,000 right now).
(Soldiers explained to me that STOP LOSS is a financial term. Stock brokers use a STOP LOSS ORDER much the same way the military uses it. A stock brokers put a STOP LOSS ORDER on someone’s money in the stock market, so that person can’t lose their money – they stop the loss of it, much as the military stops the loss of soldiers from leaving)
We focused our research on how STOP-LOSS was affecting the troops and their families, both in combat and upon their return. Some soldiers were frustrated, but accepted STOP-LOSS, some called it a "back door draft;" some claimed “the army was recycling soldiers who’d already done their time;” some claimed this was because enlistment was down and the public wouldn’t accept a draft.” Some soldiers claimed STOP LOSS was illegal because the president had declared the “war over,” and STOP LOSS could only be used in a time of war. Some soldiers did everything they could within the system to fight going back – they appealed to their chaplains, and their Commanding Officers; some filled out applications of Conscientious Objector Status; some filed lawsuits. Some sought to resolve things outside the system- they went on the run. Some ended up in jail. Some left the country. These stories were personal- gripping, tragic and heartbreaking.
Our movie, STOP-LOSS tells the emotional story of a young man who signs up for "all the right reasons," defends his country, leads his men through battle and comes home a decorated war hero hoping to put it all behind him only to find out he can not -- being forced back to war forces him to face his connections to the men he served with, his feelings about the war, and his desire to come home.
Because soldiers inspired the characters and the storylines in the movie, we tell the story as much as possible from the soldiers' point of view using their images, words and experiences. We include soldier-made videos like the many we discovered that soldiers had made. And we had Iraq war era vets look at every draft of the script.
In order to continue to protect and develop the authenticity of our depiction of soldiers and the events they and their family’s experience, we continued working with Iraq combat vets and brought in excellent military advisors (SGT. Major Jim Dever as well as SGT. Tom Minder) who'd served 25 years in the marines. These soldiers helped us to: design the battle sequences based on real battles, ensure that the soldiers’ and family’s dialogue rang true, and train (and train with) our actors.
SGT. MAJOR JIM DEVER, also designed a boot camp for the actors to train in the ways soldiers train (obviously paired down from what real soldiers go through). We also had Iraq war vets work on the movie and go through the boot camp with the actors so they could share “war stories” with the actors. To the extent that it helped, I participated -- took marches, fired weapons, blew things up, went out with the boys, drank, and skinned snakes. When I staged a fight scene, I had a stunt coordinator help me stage it technically and I had a soldier make sure it was accurate to how soldiers would have fought.
When I could, I cast Iraq war vets and/or soldiers in scenes that had soldiers in them so the actors could absorb what the soldier had experienced and so the movie would be a historical text of this war and combat scenario and these soldiers’ experiences. And we had soldiers look at the footage and script.
We gave all department heads and actors research packets, which they disseminated to people working on the film. It was very inspiring to share the research and then wake up and find my email in box flooded with new research the crew was finding. (My garage is so filled with research for this film, I can’t park my car in it). Throughout the editing process, I showed the movie to civilians as well as soldiers.
We just completed a 24-city tour across America and Canada (from November 2007 to March 2008) where we screened STOP-LOSS and did Question and Answer sessions for soldiers and non-soldiers in which nearly all of the audience stayed (something our field representatives said was unusual). I met many soldiers and military family members who shared with me their responses to the movie and their own experiences.
To give you a sense of the tour:
In Madison, Wisconsin I met a couple whose son was stop-lossed and is currently fighting in Iraq. The mother said of her son being stop-lossed, “It is the worst possible thing you can go through.”
In Boulder, Colorado a young vet stood up and cried- he was having trouble adjusting to life after Iraq and said to me, “You got it right- how could you know? You accurately portrayed what it was like.” He also turned to the audience and said, “I did it for you- you don’t know what I went through, I gave up my life for you.” Audience members cried when he spoke and it was an intense and emotionally moving experience for all.
In San Diego, California wounded veterans and members of a group called Wounded Warriors stood up and thanked us for “getting it right.” One wounded Iraq veteran Mike told us that if he could, he would go back to his men, because “it is hard to be a father and husband and I miss my guys.”
In Miami, Florida, a Vietnam Vet stood up during the Q&A and told us, “I lost my humanity…I’ve worked my whole live to get it back. When you are in the army they strip away your humanity to turn you into machines.”
In Boston, Massachusetts, a girl came up to me after the screening in tears and said her brother had just been shipped to Iraq and this film helped her to understand it. Also, a WWII vet and a Vietnam vet got into a heated argument about war, but both agreed that this film was accurate and was the current generation’s classic war film.
Finally, in Los Angeles at a VA hospital, a group of Iraq Veterans Against the War talked about their experiences and said that Stop-Loss happens, in even greater numbers than we know, and vets come home struggling to re-assimilate to their old lives, families and communities. I have heard from stop-lossed soldiers who have said, “I was stop-lossed and love my country but stop-loss is an unfair policy and I’m glad this movie shed light on this injustice.”
Along our tour and on our websites (Here and on www.facebook.com/stoplossmovie, www.myspace.com/stoplossmovie), people have made passionate comments as you are making –
I have also heard from Military wives who have seen Stop-Loss and have thanked us for showing how hard it is for their husbands to be oversees/for them to take care of their newborn children that their husbands have never met/to hold back their emotions and their problems as they stand by and support their soldiers. Many military wives and military family members and soldiers wanted to make sure Stop-Loss gives honor to the soldier and shows the brotherhood in a pro-soldier way. Upon seeing the film they have thanked us for doing just that and for showing the longing for home, shedding light on the problems many of their friends and siblings have experienced when coming home (PTSD), and showing the fun and camaraderie that is such a core part of being in the military for many people.
Xx kp
