Charlie Wilson's War Puns

Here’s more: ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’ fills in on US-Afghan history (WONKedition)

- r/NewsForTeens

I think my DVD box summary of Charlie Wilson would be "Extremely fun and well-made propaganda". Please don't roll your eyes, Aaron Sorkin is a lefty and a commentator but he's also extremely pro-Murica. In CWW, it shines out in the weirdest ways. No knock on Sorkin for embracing the politics of the moment, I'm sure all these subjects truly felt Soviet Russia was a global threat and arming the Afghans was the way to handle it, but it's adulation for its characters makes it completely incapable of satirizing or commenting on its subject beyond "war bad but we gotta do it sometimes". Given what's going on in Afghanistan today, this is bizarre watching.

It's basically a funny little romp about a horny senator, his heiress mistress, and a quirky government-destabilizing spy, joining forces Ocean's 11-style to get money and weapons into the hands of the Taliban. This is a Sorkin script so everyone is good buddies and very smart at each other all the time. Nothing is problematized. Charlie's drug parties with young strippers are portrayed as harmless fun, his staff consisting of young women who treat him like a beloved sugar daddy is portrayed as charming.

Julia Roberts portrays Joanne Herring, a sexy heiress who's decided arming the Afghans against the Soviet's is her new cause celebre. Characters verbalize about her privilege and detachment from the subjects of her cause, but once again this being Sorkinville, ten minutes of screentime are dedicated to a visit to an Afghan refugee camp, where Joanne doesn't necessarily LEARN anything, but still demonstrates her big heartedness, a rich white lady who GETS it.

Philip Seymour Hoffman as intelligence officer Gust Avrakotos is by far the best part of the movie. I could watch him all day. He's foul-mouthed, anti-authoritarian, and the best dry quipster in the film. It's almost enough to make you forget his casual references to his past career destabilizing third world nations and surveying foreign allies. He briefly becomes a voice of caution in the last ten minutes of the film, where he warns Charlie that the war games they played in Afghanistan may come back to haunt us as jets ominously woosh by overhead. Charlie shakes it off and goes back to his party, and the film does the same.

It's a very fun watch. Lots of great Sorkinesque comedy, compounded with a surreal reminder of just how much things have changed in recent years (even Giuliani is referenced a few times in the film with a measure of genuine respec

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I’ve just finished watching Charlie Wilson’s War for the first time and I have to say PSH gave one of his best performances. From his first scene in the shouting match with his boss, you find yourself waiting for the next time he’ll be on screen. I know he’s known for stealing the limelight as a supporting actor but I think he does it best in this movie

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I just finished up watching the film, and I admit there seem to be a lot of elements I don't know about US involvement in Afghanistan. I had no idea who Charlie Wilson was, for example. However, it reeks heavily of Pentagon Wars: a bureaucratic comedy film that purports to show you behind the scenes but is really a pile of myths.

I guess I'll just lay out my specific questions and let everyone pick and choose:

• Was the Stinger missile really the "turn the tide" weapon? On one hand the film makes it seem like helicopters are the backbone of Soviet efforts, yet even the film itself includes mentions of multiple systems being needed (ranging from RPGs to plastic explosives). Was the Stinger really the most important thing, or was it just the most iconic in a whole suite of weapons?

• Can I get a full explanation of the dealings going on between the countries? I don't like intrigue movies and find them hard to follow, but it seems like Saudi Arabia had a fund-matching program, Israel (via defeat of the Soviet-backed Arab nations) provided the largest captured stockpile of Soviet weapons in Western hands. Egypt provided organic production of Soviet weapons, and Pakistan served as a training area and supply route. I don't understand how and why each country got involved, or of these roles are accurate.

• How bad were Soviet war crimes? The film's characters make a moral point to arm the Afghans to defend themselves.

• How exactly did the Afghan-Soviet War lead to the rise of the Taliban? The ending minutes of the film explicitly states that the US did not consolidate the military victory with civil investment, leaving a dangerously young population to get swept up by "crazies", but this has to be more complicated than just not building schools.

• Was the strategy before Wilson really just to "bleed" the Soviets and not actually win?

• Are there any other myths I should know about?

Here’s more: ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’ fills in on US-Afghan history (WONKedition)

- r/NewsForTeens