What I learned from HBO about the US Marines
My husband rented Generation Kill, an HBO production about the Iraq War based upon articles in Rolling Stones magazine. I watched the first ten minutes and learned the following: US Marines are exceptionally foul-mouthed (which I actually believe, ’cause they’re young and male). They’re homophobes with subliminal homoerotic instincts. They’re extremely racist, but in a friendly way. They hate “Commies” although they don’t know what they are. They are pedophiles who hate children. And they want to kill, kill, kill — to hell with any moral underpinings regarding their actions.
The series is highly acclaimed, but I just got disgusted and quit watching. If the Marines aren’t as they were presented in the show, it was a vile slander. And if they are, frankly, I don’t want to know. I need to be protected by Orwell’s “rough men” and I’d prefer to keep alive some illusions about my protectors.