o Herói -Hina Anwar Response

o Herói showed an interesting perspective on war by displaying what life was like for people after it. Each individual character was affected differently and yet somehow all their stories became entwined. I felt bad for each individual character,Vitório especially since he had been affected by the war most directly. After all the fighting was done all he had were the clothes on his back and a missing leg. What was strange that no one even sympathized with him until the teacher came along. The only people that were really concerned about his war veteran status were prostitutes, which was also weird. You would think that his biggest concern would be finding a job and trying to survive. It was also really rude of him to prefer the teacher over the prostitute and because of his missing limb he seemed to think he wasn't good enough with her. It was as if he was implying he was on the same level as a prostitute which is unfair. Judite did what she had to survive which is more than what you could say about Vitório. The teacher to was also very stuck up in a sense. She wanted to help people so badly, but she would never look at Vitório as anything more than another one of her projects. Her love interest was even a man of high social standing. The film just demonstrated how much people are defined by their class above all else.

The prosthetic limb motif reminded me of Kandahar. Both films portrayed the false body parts as a sort of godly figure. Vitório desperately needed his as did many of the refugees chasing after them when they were falling from the sky. They were a privilege not everyone could have. Even when Manu gets a prosthetic limb he forms some sort of strange attachment to it, asking it to bring his father back to him. He even slept with it which was weird. The boys who stole the limb were also infatuated with it. It held a deeper meaning beside its intended use.

 Its just horrible to know that after war so many people suffer and even when resources are available all over the world, they aren't available where they're truly needed. The soldiers are affected and so are the people of the country with the loss of loved ones. And although I wasn't that fond of the teacher, it would be nice if more people made an effort to help others. Sure Vitório got a job in the end, but what about the other soldiers. And what about Manu who resorted to a life of thievery, instead of focusing on his school work? That thread was never tied up.aa