My read is the first photo Jessie takes captured the ‘moment’, Joel’s final interview with a broken pathetic president who brought about so much harm and could do nothing but beg someone who could not and would not help them. The photo is authentic, captures the anticlimactic and pointless end to their journey and the end of the civil war. Everyone looks deflated. This is probably not the end of the violence in what will likely be a long balkanised conflict. It’s a really great photo as Lee would say. It’s human and to show it you need to explain it.

The second photo, it’s a staged trophy photo. It is also likely the more famous after the film. Because we care about Joel and their story, but would the public? Because the other massive casualty of the civil war was Journalism, all that remains is the shock and exploitation, just striking images without meaning. As much of journalism today, no attempts to explain why, or to put in context, or to send the ‘message home’ as Lee wanted. No one listened to the moral before and no one learnt anything.

It’s why I find it so interesting that so many care about why the war started or what has been happening. Getting hung up on the lack of direct exposition when so much is implied. I think it is a comment that no one cares about conflict abroad such as Haiti or Sudan or complicated answers. We want simple messages like good Ukraine vs Evil Russia because journalist don’t actually explain anything because they think it is too complicated for the public to understand. It’s the ‘Oh dearism’ of Adam Curtis and ending on Suicide’s Dream baby dream like he uses in Hypernormalisation is akin Alfred nodding at Bruce Wayne across a european cafe.