Original artwork, not a still
Contact · 1985
Every government that prepares for war paints its adversaries as monsters, she said. “They don’t want you thinking of the other side as human. If the enemy can think and feel, you might hesitate to kill them. And killing is very important. Better to see them as monsters.”
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
The speaker argues that governments preparing for war depict opponents as monsters because empathy gets in the way of killing. If soldiers recognise an enemy who thinks and feels, they might hesitate. Dehumanising the other side is presented as a deliberate tool, with bitter irony in calling killing important.
Context reviewed
