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

[mcl4r3n]

Wow, thank you for posting this. It's good to set aside the flailing and gushing for a while, even though gushing is great fun. We don't spend that much time talking about the serious side of GK or the Iraq war; although, everyone I've come across in this fandom seems to have intelligent and well thought-out opinions when those moments do arrive. We're just, uh, easily distracted...

Back in high school, I was a massive WWII nerd, reading everything I could get my hands on. So much so, that I didn't really enjoy Saving Private Ryan because I spent the whole movie looking for historical inaccuracies. But, through university and since then, I'd kind of drifted away from it

[valmontheights]

I'm honestly really, really humbled by the amount of response this post has gotten. I wrote it for myself mostly, to make sense of things that have been knocking about my head for quite some time now, not only about Generation Kill but about my life in general, the direction it's taking and what role things like Generation Kill has had in it.

I'm so happy to know that people find something they can relate to in this post, and I learn something new about the people I come into contact with in fandom every day, and I'm glad to be able to share things from my perspective.

I realize now that "The new face of the American military" that the GK box advertises is, in fact, a human face, one that I've gone so long without really seeing. I'm glad I had GenKill to show me that, and that I have you guys to share in all aspects of it, the serious, the silly, the porny, and everything in between. ♥

[candidlily]

I'm not eloquent enough to leave a comment that truly expresses how I feel, but I definitely agree with everything you've said. I had never had a particular interest in politics, war, stuff like that. When my friends all got into a war mini-series, I thought, well I'll certainly be missing out on that one. I'm still not sure what finally convinced me to watch. But I have learned so much and felt so much watching these mini-series, especially Generation Kill. It got me involved despite my stubbornness, and I'm so glad it did. Fangirling is just a happy side effect. Watching The Pacific (especially last night's episode) has taken me on an emotional journey that I never would've signed up for before. I tend to avoid angst. But this is angst that means something because it happened. And I'm going to stop rambling, but I totally get what you're saying here. Thank you for saying it better than I ever could. ♥

[kitsunejin]

Really cool post, I'm glad you unlocked it! :) I also struggled with the subject of GK for a while before I actually watched it, though for different reasons - whatever my feelings on the Iraq War are, I don't have the same kind of stake in it that you do; I can only imagine how hard and frustrating that must be. But yes, in the end I did get something really important out of it; my family background is very 60s-hippie, extreme left-wing, and I was raised to have very little respect for the military - any military - or the people in it. But generalisations are never a good idea! There are people who did, and are doing, wonderful things in a horrible situation, and people who did and are doing terrible things. They're all still people.

Thanks for making this post! I'm glad people can talk about the serious sides of these issues every once in a while.

Also, I added you! You seem really cool. :)

[valmontheights]

I think it's a testament to GenKill's quality and unflinching realism that people from every corner of the world are able to find something in it that's meaningful to them--I wouldn't call it an enjoyable experience, overall, except for the bits where it was, but it was something I needed to see. I think now I'm less likely to give in to the temptation of generalizing any group, miltary or otherwise, based on what a narrow spectrum of media representation they might've had in the past. That is something I'm always grateful for.

I seem cool? You wrote the Brad/Ray/Nate threesome that broketh my brain, for Christ's sake! Of course you're added! :D

[sharksdontsleep]

OK, I'm pretty late to this party, and a lot of my reaction is, er, what everyone else said.

It showed me how well-trained, intelligent, highly-skilled people tried to deal with with situations where no amount of combat training, dive training, SERE, parachute training and reconnaissance skill could have prepared them.THIS. This so much. Part of the maturity I like w/ Generation Kill and with the Wire is that no one is prepared emotionally/mentally to deal with systems that inherently devalue human input. Some reviewer said that the Wire was an meditation on "The Bomb in the Garden" phenomenon - that small, good acts are all that salvage people from terrible situations, but are futile and often crushed/unrecognized under unchangeable systems. We can take a bomb out of a place that children play, but we cannot ensure that all the bombs are gone or that all children are safe or that bombs won't be placed in the future. Ultimately, the bomb doesn't matter at all or is the only thing that matters