We know Alex Garland’s "Civil War," which imagines a modern domestic conflict taking over the United States, is only fiction, but it continues to resonate with Americans’ anxieties as we head into another polarized presidential election. The movie doesn't offer a clear explanation for the civil war, focusing instead on its occurrence and the profound impact it has on those involved. Technically, it's a masterfully executed film featuring convincingly realistic action scenes. Yet, therein lies the issue. The filmmakers painstakingly strive for realism in portraying war photographers yet prompting questions about accuracy as noted by Louie Palu in his Washington Post piece, "I'm a Photojournalist. 'Civil War' Gets War Photography Dangerously Wrong" and Greg Braxton and Carolyn Cole in their Los Angeles Times piece, "What 'Civil War' Gets Right and Wrong about Photojournalism, according to a Pulitzer Prize winner.” But it's not the accuracy I have trouble with. The “war” photos they capture are ethically troubling for me. They reference genuine horrors and historical events documented by real photographers, attempting to recreate them with virtuosity. This approach feels disrespectful to real trauma.

As I have written previously, I don't oppose films depicting trauma. Horror movies, dramas, and comedies, in fact, often provide profound insights into trauma within fictional contexts. Such films can engender healing for the filmmaker and the audience since they are one step removed from historical reality, but emotionally true. My issue is that through its recreated war photos, "Civil War" purports to represent reality. At my son's Claremont McKenna graduation a few years back, the speaker was Phan Thi Kim Phúc, famously known as the “Napalm Girl,” photographed by Nick Ut.

Because of its raw, unfiltered reality, the Pulitzer Prize-winning image remains poignant and powerful, irrespective of one's familiarity with its backstory. Phan Thi Kim Phúc spoke of both resenting being captured in such........

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