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Evolutionary Psychology
Evolutionary Psychology and The Oscar Race II: The Hurt Locker
The psychology of the suicidal warrior
Posted January 19, 2010
Coauthored by David Lundberg Kenrick
In our last post, we reviewed the movie Avatar in light of four key evolutionary themes found in popular films: Getting Along, Getting Ahead, Getting the Bad Guy, and Getting the Girl. Before the Academy Awards ceremony in March, we plan to review the top contenders for Best Picture. Will the four evolutionary themes predict the winner? We don't know, although we think they will certainly predict box office success and whether or not a film becomes a classic.
Getting Along to Get the Bad Guys.
The Hurt Locker was just released on DVD, and it's making an appearance on just about every critic's list of potential Oscar winners. The movie depicts the adventures of a three-man bomb disposal squad in Iraq, and if you are at all prone to nail-biting anxiety, this movie will help you meet your weekly quota. It might even help make you feel calmer about your own life, by contrast.
In terms of the central evolutionary themes, The Hurt Locker did not try to go the Grand Classic route and cover them all (a la Gone with The Wind). Instead, it specialized -- focusing mainly on Getting Along, with particular attention to the links between Getting Along and Getting the Bad Guys (which was a strong secondary theme).
In the first scene of The Hurt Locker, we meet a three-man explosive ordinance disposal unit. The small team gets along spectacularly: they are cool, calm, and collected in a very dangerous situation. They obviously trust one another, and are strongly committed to one another's personal safety.
But they suffer a major setback, and lose a key team member. His replacement is Sergeant First Class William James (no known relation to the author of the first psychology textbook). James is an adrenaline junkie, whose personal goal of being a fearless hot shot is in conflict with the main goal of the other team members -- to work together to survive.
As a main character, James is unusual in that he doesn't have a real social goal. He doesn't care much about his family or about his teammates. Although bravado is often tied to the goal of getting ahead, James doesn't seem to care much about status either.
His partners, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Eldridge, play secondary roles in the film, but we found it a lot easier to relate to them. Sanborn and Eldridge want to survive and keep the team safe, and to do that, they need to get along. But now they're working with James, a hothead prima donna they don't trust.
The movie nicely demonstrates how Getting Along is critical to the basic evolutionary goal of Survival. The team needs to work together, or they will die. But instead of being a team player, James is an obstacle to this goal. Soon after James joins the team, in fact, Sanborn and Eldridge have a discussion about murdering the new hot shot to keep themselves alive.
Eventually, however, the three soldiers do begin getting along, and it's conveyed through very basic evolutionary images. Under fire from snipers hiding in a distant building, James has to rely on the other two characters, and he does. It's extremely hot, and eventually, James asks for juice. Rather than drink it himself, though, he offers it to Sanborn. The last time we see Sanborn, instead of wanting to murder James, he is risking his own life to save him. But the warm feeling doesn't carry through to the end.
Not Hollywood
The Hurt Locker did not try to cover all the standard Hollywood themes, and it did not follow the standard Hollywood plot sequence, but instead approached its themes from a non-traditional angle. This may account for its popularity among film critics (for whom a movie like Avatar -- in which the hero comes from behind and outside to win acceptance, get ahead, get the bad guy, and get the girl - may come off as formulaic, despite the other-worldly visual effects).
There's another way in which The Hurt Locker is non-traditional: Most good movies quickly establish their main character's goal, and set him or her as far away from that goal as possible. As the movie progresses, the main character moves closer and closer to the goal. There is typically a major setback about three scenes from the end, which the character overcomes to bring us home satisfied. The Hurt Locker doesn't quite go that route. When we first meet Sgt. James, he is a ballsy munitions expert who is difficult to get along with. The last time we see him, he is the same guy in the same position. For the last few scenes, the movie abandons the theme of Getting Along, and simply follows James, without the rest of his team. As a consequence, our level of psychological involvement faded, right at the point when a typical film has its strongest pull.
Should you rent it? It definitely gives a unique perspective on the psychology of a certain kind of warrior. At the same time, the general theme of Getting Along to Get the Bad Guys is a popular one in war movies, and other films, including Black Hawk Down and Saving Private Ryan, addressed it in a way that left us feeling more satisfied.
Evolutionary Grade: (B+ on a split vote) (see below for grading system)
A - Ambulating Anthropoid (X - DLK)
B - Bouncing Bonobo (X - DTK)
C - Crawling Crayfish
D - Dozing Drosophila
E - Extinct Eukaryote
Links to our other reviews of Best Picture nominees below:
For a psychological lift on Valentine's Day, Watch UP
Modern technology as intimacy's enemy: Are we all "Up in the Air?"
Two kinds of bad guys: District 9 and human prejudice.
Does God Exist, and if so, who cares? (review of A Serious Man)
