RC - War Movies | Inference Ques

[yourshail123]

During and immediately after a war, Hollywood films typically trumpet the glory of sacrifice and unquestioning patriotism. Ten to fifteen years later, however, morally fraught and sometimes pacifistic movies about the conflict typically emerge. For example, after America joined World War I in 1917, the still infant film industry glorified the fight against "the Hun." But by the early 1930s, films such as All Quiet on the Western Front did not shy away from depicting the horrors of combat and the disillusionment of soldiers. After World War II began, the cycle repeated itself. Guadalcanal Diary, produced during the second world war, portrayed "the ultimate sacrifice" as a noble and undisputed good while diminishing the ethical complexities. By 1957, though, films such as The Bridge on the River Kwai, first published in book form in 1952, were winning awards for depicting the moral confusion inherent in war. Subsequently, the movie The Green Berets, produced at the height of the Vietnam war in the late 1960s, was far closer in tone to Guadalcanal Diary than to The Bridge on the River Kwai. A decade or more passed before the film industry finally began producing more complex and ambivalent depictions of the Vietnam war, such as Apocalypse Now and Platoon.


Ques:
The passage implies which of the following about the message portrayed in the movie The Bridge on the River Kwai?
A) It supports the author's view that it is better to depict the full complexities and moral confusions of a conflict than to pretend that sacrifice is always worthwhile.
B) It put forward the pioneering portrayal of the moral confusion of war.
C) It represented a more realistic depiction of war than did the message in Guadalcanal Diary.
D) It incorporated the negative aspects of war more so than did the message in Guadalcanal Diary.
E) It was more similar in tone to the message in Apocalypse Now than to the message in All Quiet on the Western Front.

Can some one explain the correct answer choice D?
I am skeptical about it since the Guadalcanal Diary does't even address anything about negative aspects. However, there is no other closest choice.

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

What we learn about Guadalcanal Diary is that it DIMINISHED the ethical complexities concerning war. However, the passage does not state that the movie did not touch upon this subject at all. Therefore, answer D is correct, Guadalcanal Diary was less concerned with the negative aspects of war than The Bridge on the River Kwai was.

[kullayappayenugula]

What is wrong with option B? can someone please explain ?

[Kasia@EconomistGMAT]

Answer B is incorrect because it cannot be inferred from the passage that The Bridge on the River Kwai presented the moral confusion of war in a NEW way or from a new and original perspective. However, answer B suggests that this perspective was original because it describes the portrayal of the confusion of war in The Bridge on the River Kwai as PIONEERING.

[tanviet]

I am stuck between C and D. Why C is wrong ?

[Brent@GMATPrepNow]

I am stuck between C and D. Why C is wrong ?

Great question.
We're told that Guadalcanal Diary portrayed "the ultimate sacrifice" as a noble and undisputed good.
And we're told that The Bridge on the River Kwai depicted the moral confusion inherent in war.

Answer choice C: It [The Bridge on the River Kwai] represented a more realistic depiction of war than did the message in Guadalcanal Diary.

Notice that the author never talks about realism. The passage is more about how war is depicted. In other words, the way in which war is perceived/presented.

Determining whether or not The Bridge on the River Kwai was more realistic depends on the attitude of the reader. Readers who feel that war is all about the nobility of making "the ultimate sacrifice" will feel that Guadalcanal Diary is a more realistic depiction of war. Readers who feel that war is fraught with moral confusion will feel that The Bridge on the River Kwai is a more realistic depiction of war.

Since C depends on the reader's attitude (and not the passage) it cannot be the correct answer.

Cheers,
Brent