In the movie, The Hurt Locker race and ethnicity play a major role in the unfolding plot; specifically the differences in class create tension. Sergeant First Class William James (Jeremy Renner) a Bomb tech in the U.S. Army’s Bravo Company Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit is a stereotypical white, lower class, American soldier; but there is more to this “Wild Man” than meets the eye; underneath the protective bomb diffuser suit is a soldier who is complex.
Even though jaded by life, Sergeant James is not evil, but more a damaged good man. We can see this by reflecting on Chris Hedges’ quote which opens the movie, “The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug.” Later in the film the quote really hits home when one soldier who is injured is being taken by helicopter to medical says to James, “We didn’t need to go after them, but you needed your adrenaline rush.”
Indeed, he is blinded by his need for war, but Sergeant James is not motivated selfishly. Every time we see him risk his safety, or the safety of others it is always to achieve a greater good. For example: in several of the missions, he regularly puts himself in danger so that he can diffuse a bomb, and thus keeping others safe. Perhaps, he keeps the trigger pieces of the bombs he has diffused under his bed, numbering 873, because he wants to relive the rush or maybe because he wants to remind himself he is doing good, in a world which always has another bomb to diffuse. As the protagonist of the film, Sergeant James is identifiable with, by the audience because he exudes human qualities and faults.
Script to Screen 