The 2010 Oscars have come and gone and the outcomes were interesting. Many people were surprised when The Hurt Locker destroyed Avatar. It was viewed as a breakthrough for women as director Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director as her film went on to more awards like Best Picture. Therein lies the question.

It goes without saying that Hollywood needs to add flair and story in order to entertain the masses, that’s understood. But often times, accurate or not, the common man’s understanding of history becomes the portrayal from Hollywood. Such classics as Platoon or Saving Private Ryan come to mind as becoming the de facto image people associate in their minds to the war experience. The IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) was mentioned by Newsweek for its take on the accuracy of The Hurt Locker’s portrayal of EOD and service in Iraq. By and large, the movie was well received as one of the best movies showing the Iraq experience, but there are always quirks that create a small snub. IAVA mentions the inattention to minor details like not using appropriate ranks as something simple enough that its research oversight is rather inexcusable for what the movie intended to be. And while its understood that flair was added to the role of EOD, the movie’s usage of them for purposes beyond EOD and the portrayal of other military elements such as FOB guards was simply wrong. For the many OmniNerds that have been deployed to the Middle East, what do you think about Hollywood’s versions of Iraq on celluloid?

After all, a hyper-realistic take on life in the military might be too close to the vision portrayed in The Onion’s satire on the popular Modern Warfare video games.

This article was edited after publication by the author on 08 Mar 2010. View changes.