This was a difficult film to watch. It was like my brain turned off for an hour and a half and I was just blank eyed seeing a step by step recount of what happened. I think that the “justification” for the actions taken against Armenians is a very clear example of how supposedly just retaliatory violence is almost always both an untrue narrative and also will lead to worse escalation of violence. I found the methods by which Armenians were killed to be grotesque. The endless march without food or water under harsh conditions is unimaginably terrifying. To me it had somewhat of a parallel to the actions of the US government in relation to the trail of tears. What was alarming about the page the movie was on on youtube were the number of commentors stating the genocide of Armenians were not real. There was an endless stream of Turkish nationalists advocating that the movie was fake and a narrative intended to demean Turkey. There were many who argued both that it was fake, and also that it was justified. There is a baffling amount of cognitive dissonance present in modern day nationalists. It seemed the commentors both wanted their country to appear strong in responding to the supposed massacres and attacks committed by Armenians during WW1, while also suggesting they never did anything at all. It suggested to me that their mindset held them to the idea inaction against their percieved aggressor would be cowardly, but also if they fully voiced their tolerance towards genocide and their hatred for the groups that were affected they understood they would not be taken seriously. This interplay of pride in violence alongside denialism demonstrated the irrational nature present in modern alt right movements and the level of dogma that must be present to ignore factual evidence and support empires that no longer exist.