Regarding the bomb squad, is there a personality profile that makes certain people well-equipped for that job?
KB: Well, a couple things to bear in mind that are fascinating is that when Mark came back from his embed and his observations, I realized that the real responsibility of the filmmaking here was to keep the film reportorial, keep it as honest, realistic, and authentic as possible. And you know, he would describe the psychologies of these men who arguably have the most dangerous job in the world. And yet you then realize that this is a volunteer military, so these are men who have chosen to be there. So there is a kind of interesting psychology at work. Are you familiar with Chris Hedges’ book War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning? It’s an incredible study of that particular psychology, and I’m not making a generalization of everybody, but certainly there’s a kind of allure he speaks of, that combat can provide for some individuals. That was interesting. But at the same time, EOD [Explosive Ordnance Disposal] techs have extremely high IQs. They’re invited into EOD after they’ve passed an
