Courage Under Fire Analysis

The characters, especially men, in Courage Under Fire and Boys Don’t Cry do not accept or respect the characters who have different genders. They believe that they are better than the other characters, just because they are men.

The men in Courage Under Fire either see Captain Karen Emma Walden as a hero and someone who deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor, or as someone who does not deserve the award just because she is a woman. “In the old days, strong sturdy women were almost admired” (Silko, 66), this quote from Yellow Woman and the Beauty of the Spirit show that just like the strong Laguna Pueblo women are admired, Captain Walden is also admired by multiple men in the film. Rady, who was in the rescue helicopter with Walden, says

Walden was the right person to be in charge of this mission because she came up with smart, quick ideas that helped her fellow soldiers. She came up with the idea to throw the fuel cell onto the enemy tank to have it explode: an idea that Monfriez will take credit for during the investigation. Not only did Monfriez lie and take credit for Walden’s idea, he also was responsible for her death. “There have been a number of studies in the past several years that demonstrate that significant numbers of men are uncomfortable with the way that some of their male peers talk about and treat women” (Katz 346). This quote from Violence Against Women is a Men’s Issue accurately describes the reason why Walden died. When a rescue helicopter came to retrieve Walden and the other soldiers, she told them to leave her behind so she could keep fighting the enemy, she did this so that they could get to the helicopter safely. She risked her own life in order to save them. When Monfriez and the other soldiers got to the helicopter, the pilot asked where Walden was, before anyone could

Brandon is a transgender male who is raped by two of his girlfriend’s, Lana, family members. This quote accurately describes how Brandon felt after he was raped by John and Tom: “Whether the victims are female of male, men are overwhelmingly the perpetrators. But we call it a women’s issue? Shouldn 't that tell us something?” (Katz 342). After he was raped, Brandon apologized to John and Tom and said that “this is all my fault”. Brandon felt as if he was the one to blame, even after these men beat, raped, and humiliated him. Brandon believed that he was the problem, when in fact he was just trying to live his life the way he wanted to, and he did nothing wrong. After he was raped, Brandon reported it to the police and the way he was treated was horrible. The Sheriff who talked to Brandon had absolutely no compassion for him and what he went through. “Society 's posture on rape, and the manifestation of that posture in the courts, help account for the fact that so few rapes are reported” (Anonymous 247). This quote from The Rape of Mr. Smith relates to this scene because Brandon went through a terrible thing, that no person should have to go through, and he was interrogated about it and shown no compassion. “The law discriminates against rape victims in a manner which would not be tolerated by victims of any other crime” (Anonymous 246). This quote also