Zero Dark Thirty shows the struggle and problems when trying to capture Osama Bin Laden. Much of the movie is intended to be what actually happened and the internal and external conflicts that everyone faced when finding Bin Laden. Maya’s co worker and friend dies and makes the struggle to find Bin Laden more personal. The movie was from Maya’s perspective and therefore incorporated her internal conflicts into the overall conflict which was finding Bin Laden. This could also be seen as a reflection of how Americans felt after the 9/11 attacks. Many people took the search for Bin Laden to be personal and it played a key element in finding him. 

Some themes of Zero Dark Thirty would be violence and perseverance. At the beginning of the movie there are scenes when Maya and Dan use violence to get information. There is also a presence of violence when people try and shoot Maya. Perseverance is present as Maya tries to take down the man they believe to be connected to Bin Laden. This Perseverance could also be a reflection of how Americans felt at the time. Maya would do anything to find Bin Laden and this pursuit is what makes Zero Dark Thirty an intense movie. 

I watched Zero Dark Thirty a second time for this class and after seeing it I noticed many things I had not before. For one thing, the torture scenes made me think much more about how the director wants the audience to see the various conflicts involving the use of torture to get information. There were times in the movie when torturing worked and times when it didn’t. The movie also made the pursuit for finding Bin Laden seem personal. I also didn’t notice foreground and background angles in the last killing scene of the movie. The camera is constantly changing angles and shows the final moments before killing Bin Laden.