The Basics
Genre: Documentary
Director: Kirby Dick
Run Time: 1h39m
Release Date: October 23, 2012
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Being that "The Invisible War" is a documentary, formatting and length will be different than the usual paradigm
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Synopsis
The Invisible War is a documentary, directed by Kirby Dick, that examines the darker grittier elements of female military service. Specifically, The Invisible War tells the stories of a handful of female vets, sharing their story of sexual assault, humiliation, and rape in their time of service. The women interviewed tell an intimate, and heart breaking story of how their lives were turned upside down, and how their life since is the textbook definition of "Murphy's Law".
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Why Everyone Needs to See: The Invisible War
The Invisible War captures the story of one of the greatest human injustices that could be done unto one another, opening to an audience not of certain parties, but as genuine human beings.
There is no possible way I could do the women, and their stories, proper justice by reiterating them on this blog. There story is something that can only be truly grasped seeing glimpses of a torn, broken soul peeking out their eyes. While The Invisible War only tells the story of fifteen woman, they are quick to illustrate the darker side of serving that most of their higher ups will never admit exists.
Technically speaking, one of the more notable aspects of The Invisible War is it's one of the few political documentaries that doesn't, right off the bat, disenfranchise half its audience like a Michael Moore film might. In fact, even though it puts the military and military politics, under the microscope, The Invisible War speaks to us not as republican/democratic voters, but rather our humanity and common decency. The most gut wrenching thing the film brings to light, besides the assaults and rapes themselves, is that the vast majority of rapes and sexual assault on women (and occasionally men) go unreported. Even those that do get reported, even after being brought to the attention of those who could do justice, hit an impassible brick wall. Outside of the attackers themselves, the biggest obstacle these women face is the American Military PR. No matter the specifics of each crime, all the cases captured in The Invisible War get lost in the endless cycles of bureaucracy Much like any scandal brought to national attention, it is ablaze for three weeks, and then disappears. The political push back from the military-complex in the film, is twice as much because they, in theory, are America's first impression to the rest of the world.
A citizen's duty is to be informed, and act appropriately with that information. These women, all women, who have serve(ed) in the military fought just as valiantly as any other. Why everyone needs to see The Invisible War is that after risking their lives, marching through hell, these women earned more than their share of justice. While there may be little we can do for the interviewees themselves, let us do it then for our daughters, their daughters, and grand-daughters whom will surely stand where these women have.
