MovieChat Forums > Zero Dark Thirty (2013) Discussion > Love it, but one nitpick

Love it, but one nitpick

posted 9 years ago by Black_Lady_Pyro
10 replies | jump to latest

So I checked this out from my local library about a week ago and I loved it (8/10). The only problem that I had was when Maya's friend (the other female C.I.A. agent) and her team go to meet with the associate terrorists (I really don't know of anything better to call them), not only does she send the snipers away, but she walked right up on these guys before her team patted them down. As soon as she closed the distance I knew it was going to end badly. I understand not wanting to spook a possible lead to OBL, but I felt having her step to those guys without taking proper precautions was an insult to the overall character. Anyone else feel like this?

If we wanna hear you talk, I will shove my arm up your ass and work your mouth like a puppet!

[–] Alyse_MA 9 years ago

As soon as she closed the distance I know it was going to end badly. I understand not wanting to spook a possible lead to OBL, but I felt having her step to those guys without taking proper precautions was an insult to the overall character. Anyone else feel like this?

This happened in real life, though.

I think the family of the CIA woman who was killed in this attack is resentful about the way they portrayed her in the movie in general, but the real situation with this real life attack is that the CIA didn't use their security protocol properly with this one double (triple, as it turned out) foreign agent, so a number of CIA people were killed.

[–] Black_Lady_Pyro 9 years ago

Hello Alyse_MA, and thank you for the reply :)

It appears that you seem to be a bit of a mind reader since I found myself wondering if that particular scene really did happen (even though this movie is based on firsthand accounts, we know filmmakers will sometimes throw something extra in just for entertainment/shock value).

If that's the case, then I can understand her family feeling some type of way about this scene. Thanks again for the clarification!

If we wanna hear you talk, I will shove my arm up your ass and work your mouth like a puppet!

[–] Alyse_MA 9 years ago

You're welcome!

This was the Camp Chapman suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents.

There's a lot of information about this on the internet.

I think the real woman's family objected to the way she was portrayed in the movie in general. The truth is that they really did take chances with this one individual, however, which is how the CIA agents were killed.

[–] Vashramana 9 years ago

Did the cute blonde girl who started running away once the guy started shouting allahu akbar survive?

[–] swaiminatrix 9 years ago

The cute blonde girl probably didn't make it since she likely ran towards the blast.

[–] swaiminatrix 9 years ago

Blonde jokes aside, the blonde agent depicted in the film was probably Elizabeth Hanson, 30, a CIA targeting analyst. Hanson was killed in the attack.

God Bless these men and women who live in the shadows with snakes and protect the homeland day and night.

[–] matt21-690-602571 8 years ago

It is good to hear that this is depicted (mostly?) just as it happened.
If it didn't happen this way, then I (and hopefully everyone) would be pretty appalled with the director and/or writer for taking such a liberty with the scene. That would be throwing whatshername and the security team (or maybe just the squad leader) under the bus, saying they were wreckless and got themselves killed.
Plainly put, it better have happened that way. *beep* the director if it didn't.

[–] TerryRome01 9 years ago

The family may have not liked it but even they admitted that she was not qualified to be there and preside over such complex and dangerous situations.

[–] TerryRome01 9 years ago

They tried to convey that in the movie too. Remember when Maya and her meet in the lunch room and she makes the claim that money works. Maya, of the newer generation, soon corrects her that the terrorists are not moved by financial gains because they are radicals. She underscored the different set of rules than that of the cold war that Jen was more familiar with where the money for walk ins worked at the time.

[–] gangsta_toes 8 years ago

Actually the first time I saw this I told my wife they would never suspend security protocol like that, especially at a forward operating base in the dessert. I had assumed at the time it was Hollywood taking liberties for drama's sake.

You can imagine how shocked I was when I found out that scene actually happened. To this day I still can't believe highly trained operatives allowed it to go down like that.