The smearing of Zero Dark Thirty

last updated 8 January 2015

Kenneth Turan

Los Angeles Times

Zero Dark Thirty is the victim of a smear campaign, said Kenneth Turan. The film, which depicts the U.S.’s long pursuit and eventual killing of Osama bin Laden with mesmerizing realism, has won near-universal raves from critics and audiences. But when the Oscar nominations came out last week, Zero Dark Thirty got only five, compared with 12 for Lincoln, and Kathryn Bigelow was shut out of Best Director contention. Why? Her film has become “collateral damage” in the political debate over the morality of torture. Three U.S. senators have expressed their “deep disappointment” that the film supposedly justifies torture, while other critics have called Bigelow “an apologist for evil.” Academy voters “caved in to the drumbeat of condemnation”—even though the critics are wrong. Far from justifying torture, Zero Dark Thirty shows waterboarding and other interrogation techniques as brutal and repellent. It’s ambiguous as to whether tortured prisoners give up any information critical to finding bin Laden, while Bigelow makes it clear that our country lost its moral compass in our post–9/11 panic. Her film’s nuanced artistry deserves praise, not shunning.