The Battle of Midway and the Complexity of Good and Evil in History

The interpretation of history must be expansive in scope to capture complexity of good and evil

The Japanese heavy cruiser Mikuma, June 1942 after being bombed by planes from Enterprise and USS Hornet (CV-8). Source: Naval History and Heritage Command, U.S. Navy photo 80-G-414422 (public domain)

A new movie “Midway” with an estimated production budget of $75 million featuring Woody Harrelson, Mandy Moore, Nick Jonas, and other luminaries will hit theaters on November 8, 2019. The man behind it is Roland Emmerich of such past blockbusters as “Independence Day” and “The Day After Tomorrow.”

Midway is a historical drama based on the decisive Battle of Midway between the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet and the Japanese Imperial Navy’s task force centered around six Aircraft Carriers near the Midway atoll lasting for three days starting June 4th, 1942, which is six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Midway Atoll is located 1,500 miles northwest of Hawaii and of high strategic importance halfway between America and Asia. The decisive American victory over Japan in the waters near the atoll in the Battle of Midway was a milestone event in the Pacific theater in World War 2, where fearsome Japanese naval power was checked by America, setting the stage for the eventual victory of American and Allied forces over the Empire of Japan in a few long years afterward.