Daegonfel
In the United States Military, each branch of the armed services has an honor code that belies the ideals of principle, courage, and integrity that they strive to instill on each respective serviceman. The Air Force has "We will not lie, steal, or cheat, nor tolerate among us anyone who does." The other services all have something similar to this that are spoken in the form of an oath when a serviceman is commissioned to be an officer. This movie shows how this code can be disregarded in the most horrendous ways. The fact that this is still a problem for the woman and men of the armed forces is a stain on our country's honor. There shouldn't be any fear of rape or assault by a fellow recruit, serviceman, or officer in a woman's—or man's—mind when he or she enters the organization that is responsible for our very safety. Due to this movie as well as the actions and voices of victims, supporters and policy makers, real change is starting to happen.Personally speaking, the movie is very professionally made, engaging, and eye opening. All the claims they make are well supported by evidence and statistics, and the call for reform and change is a powerful message that is finally beginning to be heeded. I would highly recommend anyone that interested in the armed services, both male and female, should watch this movie. The message conveyed is a somber and important one. That said, I am not asserting that one shouldn't join the armed forces because of this problem, simply that anyone interested should make an informed decision on what they are getting into. This problem is being addressed, and hopefully in the future this problem will disappear completely.
Chris Cook
From birth we are taught that the authority figures around us are here for protection, but what happens when they cannot protect themselves? The Invisible War gives an inside look at what it is like for many women who join the forces, a truth that is hidden from the general public by higher ranks and swept under the rug to avoid any battles. The Invisible War contains interviews of women and families of the women from the forces admitting in brutal details the horror that they have experienced, that they were continuously sexually abused or raped. The film shows with real evidence and interviews that this was not just a onetime offense, but that thousands of women in the army are being sexually abused and raped by their peers and higher ranks. With solid facts and evidence, as well as statistics to back it up, The Invisible War will open viewers up to a completely new aspect as to how we should be viewing our military and what happens beyond the barracks that we do not know about. What is seen in this documentary will not only leave you breathless and stunned, but will leave you eager to fight for equality in forces for women who have been belittled in our military. Take your time and watch this documentary to not only educate yourself on what is happening in the United States of America, but also learn about what some people are going through to make this country safe for you.
Amari-Sali
Like with Blackfish, I discovered the existence of The Invisible War through watching Bill Maher's Real Time. The subject matter for The Invisible War, in some ways, shares some similarities with Blackfish in the sense that something preventable was ignored and covered up. But, rather than it be a whale which was the subject to abuse, this film deals with Military culture and how both men and women are raped and have no means or method to see their case lead to justice.Now, like with Blackfish there wasn't necessarily any person, or animal in that movie's case, with a central focus, but there were those who stood out. For this film it is a young woman named Kori Cioca, but she is joined by many other women, and a few men, who share their testimonies and lives. What I liked, at least in the beginning, was that there seemed to be a diverse group presented in the movie. There were Black women, White women, Hispanic women, and in terms of men there was less diversity, but it was nice to see them accounted for. In terms of what the film is looking to educate you on, there is a theme which sort of damns the military in terms of not just sweeping their rape cases under the rug, but also fostering a culture of which presents the opportunity for people capable of rape to do so, victim blame and support the idea that women are more so a commodity than an ally. To show this, we have the various testimonies of survivors, lots of statistics and we are lucky enough to even get some people who say everything that can be done is being done, even when it is not. I feel though, the main focus is on Kori trying to get the VA to pay for the damage done unto her, post-rape, while they also feature the stories of the various women, and briefly a few men, on their rise in the military and what lead them to leaving. There is even one testimony, anonymous mind you, of a woman currently serving.Being someone that likes documentaries, I found this one to be quite good. The reason why I liked it was because, often with films like these it seems like they really narrow their focus so that the problem seems to only affect a certain type. With this film however, there were a diverse group of women, and men, who were being interviewed about their service and who were giving their testimony. And, as always, though you can find a few people who have been well trained to read a script and respond to question as they should, it is still nice to have some type of naysayer to give some type of sign that they aren't trying to make the arguments all one sided. But, even with that said, each story you hear is given such detail that anything a representative for the military, or the military rape prevention program, says, sounds like they were fed to say it in interviews. Oh, and I was quite fond of how they broke down how the military justice system works for these type of cases. Based on watching The Good Wife, I was aware of military court being different from civilian court, but this film broke it down so that you could get a better understanding.And with that came the issue that there were only three people saying the military was doing all it could, but with being one incompetent and the others seemed like they have been handling these questions for a generation, they didn't make for the best counterargument. Also, I found it strange how we focused on Kori's life and story, no matter how interesting it is, while the other women basically presented their military occupation, back-story and then we got nothing of their personal lives. It made it seem they picked Kori's story to be the one we got to know the most since she had the most "commercial" look, if you catch my drift. Which also was one issue I had. Remember when I mentioned how diverse of a group they had. Well, that only applies in the beginning. After we get past people coming out that they have been raped, we then focus solely on White people who were under those circumstances and follow their stories. Now, to be noted, this is because they were part of a lawsuit, but it does feel strange how the documentary becomes completely voided of any person of color, be it a person who was raped, in the military or even in congress, after they go through showing how many different people had been raped.Overall: RentalThe documentary as a whole is informative, but I do feel I must warn you that even without physical imagery, it all could be very triggering since the stories may not be vulgar, but you can visualize the situations. Still, I liked it and think that it probably holds more weight than those rape prevention videos seen in the movie which were filled with bad acting and, in one case, a rap. I think, if the military would allow, it could and should be used as a means for the military to talk about their issue with rape, and perhaps used in an educational environment to talk about rape in terms of the culture of victim blaming, how to approach reporting and in various other ways. After all, rape is not just an issue in the military, but our society as a whole and though it is used occasionally as a plot device, it rarely goes into the details of the long term effects of being a survivor. So, overall I would say this is a rental for general consumers, but maybe something to own for educational purposes.
