Megan Leavey

 

Film, 2017, PG-13

 

Premise - A young woman, Megan, joins the Marines and takes interest in joining the front lines as a K9 handler. After being assigned the most notoriously aggressive dog, Rex, she goes out of her way to spend night and day forming a unique bond with him. The two become inseparable after being deployed to Iraq, after which Megan fights for her right to adopt Rex as her own.

 

Review - I'm the last person to be watching military propaganda. I'm not a fan of military films, war films of any nature really, ESPECIALLY not American military films. But if I'm going to watch military propaganda, you bet it's going to be a true story about a female officer and her dog.

 

This film confirmed so many of my own biases - that the military is somewhat of a cult, brainwashing human beings into violent warriors; that war causes irreparable damage and trauma; and that the best human virtues are empathy and kindness. None of these were necessarily the message of the film, which is very much pro-military and respectful for the real life Megan Leavey and her service. But it's what I took away from it.

 

What I see is this woman joining the military because she had nothing else going for her in life - no friends, no ties to her family, no job. She joins the Marines and is instantly thrown into the most soul-crushing, back-breaking training in which the culture is to scream and degrade people into subservience. This is often portrayed as the noble art of teaching people "discipline." It's still portrayed as noble in the film.

 

Punishment and humiliation for mistakes runs rampant. They don't tell people "good job," and if they do, it's emotionless. Ironically, the K9 dogs receive the opposite treatment. There's no punishment for the dogs, it's all about rewards, incentives, and "Good boyyy!!!" Why don't we treat human soldiers the same way we treat the dog soldiers?

 

Because boy, do those soldiers love their dogs. The bond is indescribable - lifelong, and incomparable to any bond we could have with another human being. There is a special kind of love we receive from animals that those who are privy to it are the lucky ones. We see it in Megan and Rex - those two saved each other's lives. They have a true ride or die friendship.

I was just listening to a podcast (after I watched this movie) about women in the military, and principles of masculinity that are entrenched in military culture. Something that is talked about is this idea of "selective empathy" - there is intense empathy for your own community, your fellow soldiers (including your dogs), but zero empathy for those on the other side of the war. It's protective so you don't think too hard about what you're doing. Much of the film takes place in Iraq and it's horrifying to watch the way the American military treated Iraqi civilians. In one scene of the movie, the main characters reveal a stash of weapons in an Iraqi home. They celebrate by confiscating the weapons, but also by stealing the man's prayer rugs and dancing upon it at their military base with no care for what the rug represents, and it's sickening to watch, despite it being a celebratory moment of the film. At another moment, the military is supervising a checkpoint where Iraqi civilians have to stay in line to pass. So many times, the Americans shouted and threatened to shoot them for making too much noise, or coming too close. Same with their vehicles - they have these massive tanks they drive around them with big letters saying they will shoot you if you drive too close to it. Like jeeeeez... I don't understand how we can not see them as the enemy and the real threat to peaceful society. There's nothing noble about war.

Megan, particularly because she stands out as a female officer, does not necessarily fit into these stereotypes of heartless, masculine soldiers. She tries to befriend an Iraqi child and is punished for it. She is taught to see the Iraqis as horrific, dog-killers who will go out of their way to harm Rex. She quits the Marines after being injured because after all that PTSD and depression, she's done. And I think the film does a great job at showing how damaging her experience was to her morale. I absolutely adored Kate Mara's performance as a sensitive, strong, funny, and fully realized female (I thought she was incredibly beautiful when I saw her in the Martian). The one good thing in her life was Rex and that's what the film really is about.

Those dogs do not sign up to be war heroes, and yet they put their lives at risk. Those dogs suffer from PTSD the same as we do, and they don't receive the same understanding. The reason why Rex was labeled as an aggressive dog was because of the humans who didn't know how to understand him, not a fault of Rex's. That vet muzzling him, poking his injuries - no wonder he reacted.

What I appreciate about this film is that Megan treats Rex like a dog, not a soldier. A dog who deserves treats and toys, and to feel like a puppy, and to have a good home. She quit the Marines, and she wanted Rex to be safe and retire too. I cried several times watching this film because I'm hard wired like any human to immediately tear up at any sappy animal content. When they were separated, when they were reunited, just full on tears. I had to stop watching at one point so I'd stop crying so much. When she adopts Rex, it's so that he would be a dog again instead of property of the United States government. We all deserve life, liberty and happiness and not to be government property. (88/100)

 

Quote - "What would you say to Rex if he were here?" "I'd thank him for trying to teach me what love is." "What do you mean try? It sounds like he taught you a lot."

 

What to watch for - The truth is I watched this film for Tom Felton, who was in maybe four scenes? After his character died is when I cried the most, because you see his dog's reaction and how his dog will never stop looking for him to come around the corner. I'm sad right now thinking about it.

 

Based on the true story of Megan Leavey

Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite

Distributed by Bleecker Street