Jeff Tucker on Civil War

Listen, the movie Civil War is tremendous. 

Everyone is asking the question: does it favor Red or Blue? Is the president Trump or Biden? What are the ideological issues driving the secession and attempted union by force?

The brilliant thing about the film is that none of this matters. What it shows is a reality of war itself, in which the only issues are power and control. Nearly everyone in the film is merely doing their jobs, from the military commanders and enlisted to the press secretary to the president himself. 

This is a profound point and the most powerful point of all. None of the obvious questions are answered or asked but it is engaging at the most granular level, told through the experiences of wartime photojournalists. 

People say, oh oh this is not realistic because in the film Texas and California are in a coalition to regain control of D.C. Actually this makes the point: war consists of everything except that which seems to matter in an ideological sense. Texas and California are the most powerful states and the ones that can most imagine their own independence, so it is not crazy at all. 

In any case, the film is not about politics except in the overarching sense: it’s about power by force and who will the great struggle, and all the horrible carnage that unfolds solely due to the decision to fight.

So I would say: yes, see this movie. It is more descriptive than cautionary which makes it all the more alarming.