In Alex Garland’s Civil War, observing something isn’t the same as activism.
So why do audiences want expect their movie-watching to stand in for activism?
When Jessie failed to respond, Lee took action… of a sort.
She took a photo of the man with the gun and his prisoners, substituting watching for action.
As Jessie cries, Lee justifies her non-action.
Once you start asking yourself those questions, you cant stop, she barks at her fragile fan.
So we dont ask.
We record, so other people ask.
For some viewers ofCivil War, any frustration at Lee could also be directed at the film itself.
Its just complete bullshit, Garland declared.
They seem happy, human.
Even Lee breaks her steely facade to allow for a pleasant smile, captured on film by Jessie.
A master shot shows Sammy leaning against the car and Lee relaxed, almost tranquil.
Its so weird, Lee admits.
This place is like everything Id forgotten.
Sammy smiles in a close-up.
I was thinking it felt like everything I remembered.
The camera returns to the master shot to watch as confusion undercuts Lees tranquility.
The camera pans just slightly up and shifts focus, revealing two snipers atop the building, watching them.
No matter what the shopgirl thinks, the townspeople are not staying out.
The same is true of the journalists inCivil War.
They make the decision to watch, and by watching force others to stare into the abyss as well.
Garland underscores this idea with several moments of watchers observing others throughout the film.
We watch Jessie watching Lee.
Of that, every individual can judge.
There is one thing that every individual can do,they can see to it thatthey feel right.
See, then, to your sympathies in this matter!
A modern version of right feeling might be right-watching.
Rather he would overtly echo Trump, complete with dogwhistles and mocking impressions.
TheCivil Warwe got doesnt let us off so easily.
It knows the frustration we feel at Lees we dont ask evasion.
But it also knows that we viewers do things the same way.
We viewers dont ask the hard questions either.
Instead it asks us, like Jessie, to watch her die through the point-of-view of a lens.
Garland depicts her death not directly, but via the photographs that Jessie shoots from the ground.
One black and white image captures Lee looking down at Jessies camera.
Another finds her making a strange expression.
And in the rest that follow, she collapses to the ground.
Even here,Civil Wardoesnt tell the viewer how to feel.
We dont feel right about what we see, and thats the point.
Right feeling, right watching, is never enough to combat the fascism that Garland knows is very real.
Its only right doing.
Like Lee,Civil Warrecords so that other people ask.
Or, maybe more accurately, it records so that other people act.
And its up to us to follow Lees lead and do something about it.
Civil War is now streaming on Max.
