Weekend Catchup #3: The Last (Whiskey) Tango In Baghdad

[valmontheights]

Those of you who've been on my f-list for some time will probably notice that I'm currently arse over teakettle for Generation Kill. This is in no small part thanks to the character of Cpl. Joshua Ray Person, the driver of Two-One Alpha, the lead victor in Bravo Two, played by the one and only James “PJ” Ransone to a pitch perfection that is in no

Comments

[liketheroad]

Your brain! It has articulated so many things my brain has been unable to, related to this series! Thank you for the clarity!

Also, you are so very right about Ray (and about Omar!)

[valmontheights]

Thank you! I'm really surprised by how people are responding to this post, it was more an attempt to make some sense of the things that's been in my head ever since I started watching it.

I love Omar.The Wire was full of fascinating, well-written characters, but he managed to still stand out among them.

[lorientad]

it's a good thing that you unlocked it. i totally agree with you. i loved BoB but i kinda dragged my feet about watching Generation Kill. Like you it's because the conflict is still on. I'm not moslem but i flinched everytime they used some terms, because the country that saw me grew up is Moslem, and i respect those people too much to not flinch.
The thing is,even if they are Marines, it's a way to survive those wars sane; if you insult your enemy you don't see it like a human (even if they know it's not true in the end). i've been a soldier but i never went to war thank the deity, but i've got friends fighting in Afghanistan and some in Iraq(even if I'm french! :))
I don't agree with that War like many people, but i respect those guys. they are fighting in a war that no one wants to hear about, they come back home and get insulted by some retard, that's not how it's done,man! like you said, i don't need to understand why this war is on to respect those warriors!
Semper Fi!

[valmontheights]

I think it's partly why you sense a certain frustration in the way Colbert and Espera talked about how everyone was all, "Support the troops! Bring the home!" without actually understanding what it was all about. They despised being treated as if they were ignorant pawns in somebody's masterplan. They were all highly-intelligent, highly-skilled Marines who somehow ended up performing tasks completely outside of what they'd been trained to do, but they did it anyway

[lorientad]

you are totally right! Soldiers like the Recon Marines are not ignorant Pawns. they don't have to like their orders but they are soldiers, they don't shied from duty. that's why i respect them, because even conflicted, they still do what their duty asks them to. Those who shied from duty are not deserving the title of warrior!

[xsnarkasaurus]

you are always so incredibly, intensely eloquent, my lovely.

[valmontheights]

Thank you, darling. ♥

[be_a_rebel]

But the Marines landing on Peleliu and the Recon Marines shooting through the darkness of Muwaffaqiyah have one thing in common. Semper fucking fi. Always faithful. You don't let your brothers down. You don't leave a man behind.

Reading this after seeing Episode 7 of the Pacific just broke me in pieces.

I love this whole post. And I agree with you on so much of it. The constant mockery of 'Hajis' annoyed me more than anything else. And seeing the villages...the countryside...there are so many parts of Pakistan that do look like that and there were parts where I had trouble watching because I kept thinking that this could be us some day, my country and that did horrify me. Yet I still loved the series overall, because it made me see the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan as good people, however fucked command may be.

[valmontheights]

I kept thinking that this could be us some day, my country and that did horrify me.

Yes, me too. That is something that perhaps not everybody who has seen and loved Generation Kill experienced, but I certainly felt a measure of that. You probably felt it even more intensely than I did, and I was just so horrified by the fact that common sense repeatedly died a fiery death and stupidity reigned, though I'm still glad that it was shown as such.

[be_a_rebel]

I think I kind of watched it in a sense of denial, not really seeing it as a real event but as entertainment because honestly, if I let myself think that an actual hamlet was blown up because of a military error, I'll just go completely insane. And everything else that happened...it was all just too much for my brain to handle. Even now, I don't think I've really accepted it as real. I can't, I honestly can't. GK does hit very close to home for me.

I do think it is a very difficult series to watch. I admire the men extremely, but at the same time, I always end up with an extremely bitter taste in my mouth every time it ends. And I always feel terrible for them for being put in that position and having to live with the things they've seen and done.

[penguinparity]

Came here via queeniegalore.

Like you, I had some reservations about watching Generation Kill initially despite several friends recc'ing it to me repeatedly. I'm not really a fan of ultra-violent war movies that seem to revel in violence more than depict any particular reality. Nor am I a fan of proto-patriotic movies, what the Marines in GK would call moto. But as you so eloquently pointed out, GK goes beyond both of these tropes and explores the lived reality of the Marines themselves.

Your post is such a refreshing perspective, thank you for deciding to share it. I've never been in a 'war fandom' before, so it's been an interesting experience.

ETA: Also, I'm friending you. More perspectives like this are what I can use in my life. :)

[valmontheights]

Adding back. :) Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts on this.