Zero Dark Thirty

[Baby Fish Mouth]

Jan 26, 2013 5:37:11 GMT -4 wilbert said:

They figure out Bin Laden is in the house because if there are three females there must be three males?

There were plenty of other clues, the biggest being that bin Laden's courier was tracked going there. The compound had huge privacy walls and security gates, no landlines or internet service, visitors were turned away, and they burned their own trash instead of having it collected. Obviously someone significant was hiding there. One mysterious male would only take walks underneath a big awning, so surveillance photos could never capture him. I don't think anyone in the CIA was positive bin Laden was there - I think they say in the movie that most people thought it was about a 50% chance.

As for the main character, there was indeed a female in the CIA who played a big role in finding bin Laden, but I have no idea if it was really her whole life's work, and she had a lot more help than what's portrayed in the movie.

[wilbert]

Jan 26, 2013 11:56:24 GMT -4 Baby Fish Mouth said:

Jan 26, 2013 5:37:11 GMT -4 wilbert said:

They figure out Bin Laden is in the house because if there are three females there must be three males?

There were plenty of other clues, the biggest being that bin Laden's courier was tracked going there. The compound had huge privacy walls and security gates, no landlines or internet service, visitors were turned away, and they burned their own trash instead of having it collected. Obviously someone significant was hiding there. One mysterious male would only take walks underneath a big awning, so surveillance photos could never capture him. I don't think anyone in the CIA was positive bin Laden was there - I think they say in the movie that most people thought it was about a 50% chance.

As for the main character, there was indeed a female in the CIA who played a big role in finding bin Laden, but I have no idea if it was really her whole life's work, and she had a lot more help than what's portrayed in the movie.

I get what you are saying but they specifically say the stuff about the sponse to highlight their belief that it is Bin Laden. This calls into question their analytical process. Bin Laden was on dialysis. Maybe there were other clues like medicines, trips to doctors by family members, ie, other clues that it was Bin Laden. They never mention anything like that. And then I read in the LA times, last night I googled stuff after coming home and read some articles, and it's up for debate if Maya existed. I have no way of knowing anythng about the historical accuracy of the movie, and I'not not vested in any version. If they had removed the line about "based on facts" then its a fine movie, but if they say this movie is like a real rendition of what happened, i say bs. I find it really hard to believe a young person with no discernable special skills and a poor track record (8 or 9 years with no results) would be given that much authority and autonomy within the structure of the CIA. But Michelle Bachman is on the intelligence committee, so there you go.

eta Does Maya Exist

[gitsie007]

I kept questioning the same thing: if Maya really existed or not..

Great movie but of course, it is very intense and violent. No surprises there..That texting scene, I knew something bad was going to go down. I jumped in my seat and said "Shit!". Another scene that got me was the compound scene, especially those poor children for what they had to witness..

The name Jennifer Ehle is not familiar to me but I knew who you were talking about, cancukcutie. I kept thinking she looked very familiar to me and it occur ed to me I just saw her "Contagion". She kind of looks like a cross between Meryl Streep and Keira Knightley.

Speaking of resemblances, I kept thinking that if Ron Howard and Julia Roberts procreated, their spawn would look just like Jessica Chastain..

[canuckcutie]

Jennifer Ehle is probably best known for playing Elizabeth in the adaptation of Pride & Prejudice that featured Colin Firth as Me Darcy. She dropped off the radar for a while but seems to be making a bit of a resurgence.

I thought the NY Times did a story on "Mya". I thought they reported that after Bin Laden was killed, Mya and several other agents were rewarded with some medal and Mya sent out a blistering email to the entire agency basically stating that she was the only one deserving of the honor because it was her work leading to Bin Laden and she was blown off over the years. Then Mya got passed over for promotion which stunned others in the agency. Did anyone else read that article?

[bklynred]

I didn't read that, but I recall somewhere reading that she was based on a woman the soldiers only knew as "Jen" and that she was a lot more caustic than Chastain played her.

[wilbert]

I remain skeptical. However, I very much appreciate the discussion of this. The movie touched on a lot of issues and is a movie I keep replaying in my head. Also, I hadn't seen Chastain in a movie before and she has such a lovely face.

[waytoocheerful]

Jan 27, 2013 12:00:32 GMT -4 canuckcutie said:

I thought the NY Times did a story on "Mya". I thought they reported that after Bin Laden was killed, Mya and several other agents were rewarded with some medal and Mya sent out a blistering email to the entire agency basically stating that she was the only one deserving of the honor because it was her work leading to Bin Laden and she was blown off over the years. Then Mya got passed over for promotion which stunned others in the agency. Did anyone else read that article?

I read that article! I had been wondering if the character was based on a bunch of different people until I read it. I don't expect the entire story to be known in my lifetime.

[Ladybug]

The SEAL team member who wrote No Easy Day about the raid on Bin Laden's camp also talks about a female CIA agent he called "Jen" and he gave her a lot of the credit for locating the compound. He also described her breaking down when she saw OBL's dead body. I don't know if this guy was an adviser on the film, but his book came out after filming of ZDT ended. "Jen" is also said to be the inspiration for the main character on Homeland.

If she does exist, I'm really surprised that she hasn't been publicly identified by now.

[Deleted]

If she does exist, I'm really surprised that she hasn't been publicly identified by now.

Supposedly she's still an active CIA agent, which is why she hasn't been identified. If she's real I'm betting on a tell-all book appearing after she retires.

[Deleted]

I thought the NY Times did a story on "Mya". I thought they reported that after Bin Laden was killed, Mya and several other agents were rewarded with some medal and Mya sent out a blistering email to the entire agency basically stating that she was the only one deserving of the honor because it was her work leading to Bin Laden and she was blown off over the years.

Her arrogance was hinted at, but never really explored because she was the protagonist I guess. I'm curious about the young agent who called Maya's attention to the file that led them to the courier. If she (of he) is real, doesn't that person deserve some credit? According to the movie, without that find Bin Laden might never have been found.