“Mommy, Did Daddy Rape People in the War?”
by J.R. HeadI imagine this question will be heard in homes across America in years to come. And why not? We’ve been told by Hollywood that members of our military are rapists, cold blooded killers, and more. They are taking part in an illegal war, bombing villages and torturing innocents. I mean, why would they make movies about such things if they weren’t true?
I’m constantly amazed by the attitudes of some in our industry toward the military. Personally, the fact that I’m a former Marine is often met with incredulity. Apparently, I’m “pretty cool for a Marine” and I “seem so normal”. My favorite is the look on someone’s face when they ask, “Why would you join the Marines?” while they visually inspect for some previously undetected mental defect.
Being both an actor and a veteran allows me to come at this issue from a different angle. I know the men and women that we, in this industry, often portray. To say that, thus far, we have done them a disservice is an understatement.
It would be a travesty to allow our brave men and women serving in the Global War on Terror to be remembered in the way they are currently being represented by the films coming out of Hollywood. The extended families of our military members number in the millions. We’re basically telling them that their loved ones (their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters) are pieces of shit. Not only is this reprehensible, it’s not good business.
I remember reading an article about the lack of box office success of Iraq War films. The writer stated that, despite big stars and bigger budgets, the films just couldn’t find an audience. One of the people interviewed said that they’d “tried everything” but that America “just isn’t ready” for this subject matter. I thought, “Have you tried making a film in which we are the good guys?” I bet you’d find an audience then, genius.
There are thousands of stories of heroism, courage, sacrifice and honor to be told. And guess what? You don’t even have to hurt your head trying to make them up because they actually happened. Gravy.
Here’s my challenge to my colleagues in the entertainment industry… Tell the tales of sacrifice and bravery that are so abundant. Honor our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines. It’s up to us to make sure they are remembered as the heroes they are.
Semper fidelis.
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73 Comments
Hooah!
JR Head, go to my website and see what I did with a film that honors all of our Vietnam vets. I show them as heroes as you would see in one of those old black and white films from the 40s and 50s. I show the NAM guys as heroes and Hollywood shut me for the past 20 years. I have been selling my film on DVD off my website. Check it out and get the word out to all your buddies. I even got the President of the United States to see the DVD and he sent me a letter, its on my site. There is a film out there and its called FORGOTTEN HEROES
Thank you JR for your service. I suspect that in time Liberal Hollywood will move on to something else the country should be ashamed of and – like our President’s legacy – the truth will be put on film. I hope it is sooner than later. Perhaps your stepping forward and the success of this website’s mission will hasten the surge of movies about the heroes that you truly are.
In the meantime, the best of luck to you and your career.
DAMN! Proud of you guys for steppin up to the plate in Hollywood and standing up for the cause.
Maybe they’ll finally pay attention and quit being such a bunch of whining pussies.
Well said! Listening to Hollywood, you’d be convinced that everyone thinks our soldiers are all a bunch of criminals. The fact that these films have failed at the box office gives me hope that most people do NOT feel this way.
What Hollywood has done to the men and women of our military is disgrace.
Thank you for your selfless service, J. R. Head! (Nice penname, by the way.)
Thank you for your service! Keep up the good work!
The people who can’t respect that there are Americans who VOLUNTARILY sign up to be a part of something that is purely to protect their fellow citizens should shut up. If our men and women in the military aren’t heroes, than heroes don’t exist. Thank you for your courageous service to this country!
Thanks JR for trying to set those in Hollywood straight on the matter. Don’t you find it amusing that you have to justify a patriotic service to someone who looks at you like you should be under the care of Nurse Ratchet and not the reverse? I usually reply that they can thank me later when they’ve gotten over their initial shock. Anyway, keep up the good fight.
Marines rule! My father in law is a Korea War vet, USMC. God bless America!
Thank you Marine.. OOHHH RRAAHHH
There is another thing we need to get “hollywood” and the left to see about our servicemen and women.. they are human beings, real thinking, caring people, not mindless zombie robots who do no more than take orders and kill kill kill.
According to Hollywood, men and women in the service are either monsters or dupes. No wonder the films flop – people who actually know servicemembers know better.
“Have you tried making a film in which we are the good guys?”
YES Please. I would like to see such a film!
“J.R. Head”, Semper Fi to you as well, and thank you for your commentary. I find myself in a similar boat as a prior-service Marine and a scientist, and I have come across the same behavior in my colleagues. The “leftist intelligentsia” is no myth, and it is ALWAYS a shock for these poor folks to find out they’re in the company of a Marine. They almost never know what to do with me, and I get the same questions you mentioned above. Another favorite is, “What made you join the Marines? Was your father a Marine?” The answer to that one is no, and when I explain that I served because I think it is important to serve your country rather than live your entire life on the receiving end of the freedoms we enjoy, the looks I get tell me that I may as well have just discussed the glowing purple giraffe in the room that no one else can see. I find this very sad, as it was very common amongst scientists from only a couple of generations past to have served the country on some sort of defense-related project, if not in outright military service. Today I find that I’m practically alone in this. Many of the scientists I meet today are downright shallow, with little experience beyond college and a career based on receiving government money in one form or another.
As for Hollywood’s portrayal of servicemen and women today, I’m not surprised. Look at what they did to Vietnam, and consider that your average street monkey’s understanding of that war is limited to Platoon and Full Metal Jacket. Trying to get someone to read Vo Nguyen Giap’s biography would probably be more than they could handle.
Let’s do this – I’m going to wait for Taking Chance to come out. I’m hoping that HBO got it right and didn’t just turn it into yet another, generic anti-war message or yet another shallow, anti-Bush crapfest. If they DID get it right, then I predict that it will draw a larger audience than Rendition or its clones. How about that? Can I encourage you to write another article later on, once Chance has come out and we’ve tested the hypothesis?
Semper fi, brother.
Irony is more women and children have been raped by Hollywood celebrities than US soldiers.
I think this is classic projection … most of these Hollyweirdos know if THEY were over in a foreign land packing an M4 they wouldn’t be able to stop themselves from taking advantage of all that free poon just sitting there for the taking.
As the 2nd of 3 generations of Marines I want to say thank you for your words and deeds. My son is on his way to Afghanistan and I hope that in the very near future we see Hollywood portray some of the real good our men and women are doing for this world.
JR: Thanks for your service and Semper Fi Marine! Ooorah! I cannot imagine working in an industry where your service is questioned and your choices are questioned. I don’t have that kind of patience. But its good to know you are there forcing them to look at their own ignorance and irrationality. Carry on Devil Dog.
Thanks to you J.R. Head and all those like you who serve or have served our beloved nation. You are lights shining with commitment, loyalty and sacrifice upon your fellow citizens.
I’m surprised we haven’t seen a Lefty post on this thread as we have on so many others here on BH. I’m sure we won’t have to wait long.
Fellow conservatives don’t let their venom and misinformation dishearten you. Instead, recall and be inspired by Marine Captain Lloyd Williams at the battle of Belleau Wood “when advised to withdraw by a French officer he is said to have replied: “Retreat? Hell, we just got here!”
Semper Fi! I would like to see a movie made that honors our brothers and sisters who made, and continue to make the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom. It is important for people to know that the majority of veterans are proud of their service and proud of what we are doing to bring peace and democracy to the land of tyrants. We will never forget them, especially those we served next to. May they rest in peace and God bless their souls. I know that when I make it to heaven I will see them guarding the gates.
J.R. Head,
Thanks so much for this wonderful column! You would be amazed at the amount of people that believe the Armed Forces are nothing but My Lai, Haditha, and Abu Ghraib. keep up the fight, and Semper Fi!
Q_MECH,
As for “Taking Chance”….I can’t help but notice that this film is based on a tragedy that occured in April of 2004, and yet the film is only now being released in February of 2009. My guess, and only a guess, is that they waited until Bush was gone from office to do this. Perhaps it is merely coincidence, but knowing Hollywood, I seriously doubt it. And from an Army wife, thank you for your service!
Hmmm… Posts seem to get lost. Good sign. More readers!
J.R., in case you missed it, thanks for your service! Semper Fi!
Now that G. Walker Bush is gone, Hollywood will have no trouble making patriotic Iraq War films–to help anoint B. Hussein Obama as The One.
BTW, Jack awesome film! We should do lunch sometime! LOL
I’m sure the men and woman who have volunteered to keep this country, and others, safe appreciate your words. Thank you for your commentary and thank you for your service.
Since Hollywood is so obsessed with the return of poor child rapist Roman Polanski, maybe they mean “rapist” in a good way.
They make these films because they really believe they are telling some truth. This is what they believe. Listen to these filmmakers when they talk. When filmmakers make these anti-serviceman films it is because they really think that one has to be a little off, mentally, to go into the military in the first place. They cannot say that outright, of course, because that puts them into a public relations minefield, but it is a consistent message in the subtext of most modern films about war. Soldiers are presented as either mentally irregular, or weird, or dumb, or as being so poor that they had no choice but to join the service and thus become victims and pawns of mad or corrupt political and military leaders.
That’s they way modern filmmakers think in Hollywood. Ask them and they will reveal that they actually think they are doing servicemen and women a favor by showing them as victims and pawns who have been put into such stressful situations by their corrupt leaders that they loose their way and become murderers and rapists. Unless, of course, that was already part of their nature, which is why they went into the service in the first place.
That is the modern Hollywood view of our military and servicemen.
Marines Rule! My grandfather was a Marine in the South Pacific in WW2, he was “everywhere from Tarawa to Okinawa.” Thank you for your service.
I also have 5 college buddies who served in Iraq in the first couple years of the occupation. I ran a secure website where they could privately communicate with friends back home. The stories they told could EASILY be made into a series of box office blockbusters, from tragedies to comedies to action/hero pictures. But since they didnt torture or rape anyone, it doesnt look like their story will be told.
In my opinion, its borderline criminal.
JR Head, from a former Army Sergeant “OOHHH RRAAHHH”. That felt good. I have stopped going to movies and watching most T.V. shows. The language and anti-Americanism is rampant. I have no problem criticizing the government or even the country but what is happening now is a disgrace. People think we have it real bad now; just wait till it’s gone. There is a bright side though. Soon these young men and women, our heroes, will be back home ready to lead. They will have my vote.
As a close personal friend of JR, I cannot tell you how great it feels to see him out there writing great commentary like this.
More!
Your pal,
Bill Whittle
In a few weeks they won’t be Bush’s troops and it won’t be Bush’s war. Barry will own it all and Hollywood will start churning out the success stories. Just like in the 90’s with Slick Willy.
I am so, so, so frustrated that we can’t get a film about the military that doesn’t regurgitate the same tired, old worn-out Vietnam-era negative stereotypes of soldiers as mentally defective psycho killers and joining the military as something that no sane person would willingly do. It’s crap. It’s just nauseating crap. Most of these Hollyweird types have no understanding of the military, have never met a soldier in their lives, and what’s worse, they don’t even know that they don’t know. They’re ignorant of their own ignorance. I agree with those above–I think if a smart, non-condescending film came out that actually showed our soldiers in a positive light, that people would flock to the theaters to see it. I suspect there’s a *huge* pent-up demand for that type of film. (Heck, I actually went to see Transformers in the theater, believe it or not, and a *big* reason was because I heard it actually had a *positive* depiction of our soldiers in it–but see, it was okay to show the army in a positive light there because the film was essentially a fantasy about giant robots.) But Hollywood’s never going to make that movie. In fact, I don’t even think they *can* make a patriotic film anymore. The idea that someone could actually *snicker* *snort* “love their country” and make sacrifices for it *and not consider those sacrifices to be wasted* is anathema to them. It’s so completely alien to them that they literally can’t comprehend it.
Aggie, that’s a very good point. Even if they “get it right” with Taking Chance, they still rank political considerations higher than the fundamental concepts of respect and honor that infuse Chance. I guess you could say, “I question the timing.”
Thanks for pointing that out.
Wingers and their utterly ridiculous :li=Liberal Wars On Everything American”.
You people would be hilarious if only you weren’t so pathetic.
Jack Marino – Thanks for honoring those who served in Viet Nam.
Mr. Big Dubya – Thank you for your service.
Q_MECH – I saw the trailer for “Taking Chance” yesterday. It looks promising. I plan on writing a piece about it in the future. Semper fi and thanks for your service, brother.
Richard – Thank you for your family’s continued service to America. Give your boy a big “Oo-rah” for me.
DONB71INWA – That is my favorite quote. May it be our battle cry going forward here at Big Hollywood when the long knives come out.
Aggie, Russ and John McClain – I believe you’re right re: timing. Frankly, though, I don’t care who tells the stories or when they get told, as long as they get told.
Thanks to all of you who have voluntarily given up years of your lives in service to your country. If you, and everyone else, would like to see the kind of film we’re talking about here, let the studios know it. Send an email, write a letter and, by all means, when good films are made get your butts to the theater.
Michael, I think your post is dead-on. When I think about the disparity between the perception in Hollywood and leftist culture; and the reality of who serves our country and why, I almost cry.
Bill Whittle,
A hearty CONGRATULATIONS on the Gators winning the BCS Championship!
Q_MECH, and JOHNMCCLAIN,
I believe we shall see more “patriotic” movies during Mr. Obama’s term. However, the term “patriotic” is relative, isn’t it? I seriously doubt the contempt Hollywood has for the Armed Forces will be wiped out in just a few years.
“I mean, why would they make movies about such things if they weren’t true?”
So every portrayal in movies are true?
It’s had to overlook that they will expose soldiers to Agent Orange saying its harmless, and your trying to make movie makers out to be the bad guys? Now they expose soldiers to Depleted Uranium and say its harmless.
Best wishes to those that fought for our country, while being mistreated by the government.
Love my country always, love the government only when they deserve it!
J.R., I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for Hollywood to come around. Liberalism requires iron clad belief in their beliefs can never be wrong. And I just don’t see that happening. However, this generation will pass on, and others will replace them, and perhaps one or more of them will have the insight to look back to Iraq and realize what a gold mine it is in moving stories.
To challenge the premise of this article, there is only one film I am aware of in which American soldiers are involved in raping a foreign civilian, the 2007 film “Redacted”. This film is based on a real incident, the Al-Mahmudiya killings of March 2006, as a result of which four Army soldiers have thus far been tried and convicted in courts martial of rape or being accessories to rape. Thus, the story is something that “actually happened” and not “made up.” Gravy.
Also, as this film (like many graphic war films) is rated R, my further question is what irresponsible parents allow their children to watch the R-rated films that would subsequently allow them to ask questions like “Mommy, did Daddy rape people in the war?”
Thanks for your service. Your argument would be helped by examples. Or maybe hurt. I’m not sure because you don’t provide any. For example, do you think Flags of Our Fathers was anti-troop? How about the inspirational story of Rescue Dawn? Obviously you’re preaching to the choir here, so it doesn’t really matter, but if you wanted to broaden your audience beyond the “my country right or wrong crowd,” you might consider it.
Go OKC Potatoes!!!
Lurker, falsely calling the soldiers who are exposed to Agent Orange or Depleted Uranium baby killers and rapist and all kinds of vile crap is just plain wrong. Hollywood has been constantly doing that for years. We just ask for a little balance from Hollywood but close-minded fools like you can’t seem to look past your all out haltered for us. I served my country for people like you and all Americans and all we want in return is a fair shake from our military leaders, government and citizens (liberals and conservatives). Just stop telling the lies (over and over)
about our brave soldiers. But I guess that’s just too much to ask from people like Murtha and Moore, isn’t it?
You in the biz, start making probing enquiries of Warner Brothers/Valhalla/Lengendary Pictures as to what’s happening with “Thieves of Baghdad”. They bought the rights in 2006 to the story of the recovery of antiquities looted from the Iraq Museum, an effort spearheaded by Marine Col. Matthew Bogdanos. It’s a great read and an exciting tale, plus it has military good guys as wells as complex, sympathetic Iraqi characters. I think it’s a winner, but it’s been sitting around for two years, presumably waiting for the appropriate marketing moment: maybe VICTORY IN IRAQ will do??!!! I nominate Gary Sinise for the lead (right age, almost right height, right interior landscape!) — but it needs to get into gear soon!
Dear Skeptic: Maybe not all the recent anti-military films are about rape per se, but they consistently portray the military as savage if not criminal, with the only sympathetic characters being those who, having volunteered, want out because they disapprove of the mission and the methods. “Based on a real incident” is Hollywood’s excuse for painting the ugliest possible picture, securing guilt by association, and then retreating behind the armor of “fiction”. And, please, grow up! R-rated films are seen by countless children who should not be there, because their parents don’t care what they see, and give in to the pressure to take them to whatever is the latest hot hit movie.
THANKS FOR YOUR SERVICE, JR, BOTH ABROAD AND AT HOME. I HATE HOLLYWOOD–THESE SMUG LEFTIST IDIOTS THAT THINK THEIR OPINIONS ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING TO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. PEOPLE DON’T SEE THEIR FILM DRIVEL BECAUSE MOST OF US OUT HERE IN THE HINTERLANDS LOVE THEIR COUNTRY AND THEIR MILITARY AND THAT’S JUST SOMETHING THAT THE HOLLYWOOD “ELITES” WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND.(PLUS THE FACT THAT THEIR MOVIES SUCK)—SEMPER FI!—KEEP THE FAITH, BROTHER!———-
Attn Hollywood:
Black Hawk Down
Saving Private Ryan
Band of Brothers
Americans will flock to movies about Iraq when you start making movies about the good we are doing there.
You can thank scumbags like John Kerry for these claims of rape and plunder by our troops. Many of us will never forget that it was John Kerry who testified before the Senate Committee of Foreign Relations in 1971 that American troops in Vietnam raped, murdered, mutilated and dismembered corpses on a day-to-day basis.
Skeptic – Thanks for your reply and your challenge. Let’s start with your last point first. While it’s certainly conceivable that there are parents that would allow their children to watch such films, that is irrelevant. The point I’m making is that if the majority of movies portray our military in a negative light, then that will become conventional wisdom and that is how they will be remembered for years and years to come.
The fact that “Redacted” is based on a true story is also beside the point. As you said, the people responsible were rightly tried and convicted. I’m not saying that these kinds of things haven’t happened during this war. I’m stating that we need to tell the stories of heroism and sacrifice, as well. I would guess that individual acts of courage outnumber criminal acts 1000/1. Why don’t the films we produce reflect that?
So, we agree that “Redacted” covers rape. “In the Valley of Elah” covers murder. Films like “Lions for Lambs” and “Stop Loss” portray our military as dupes, pawns, as unbalanced, etc. Can you name any films showing our current military as heroes?
Oliver – Please see above for examples. Further, I enjoyed both “Flags of Our Fathers” and “Rescue Dawn”. “Fathers” is a film about the Marines on Iwo Jima in World War II. “Rescue Dawn” takes place during the Viet Nam War.
Well put, J.R.! You know the ol’ 10% rule as well as any Marine, though, and it applies in this case–the 10% that do actually commit the atrocities are the ones that are sensationalized. Typical liberal spin, it seems. One can only hope that more of the true heroes’ stories come to light soooner rather than later. It’s hard to accept that we are always so closely scrutinized under the microscope sometimes, but that’s what happens when we’re the world’s finest fighting force. Maybe one day someone will recognize us for what we truly represent. Semper Fi, brother!
The Real Americans problem with the liberals and hollywood is the total lack of accountability for their crimes against the troops. Unfortunately, the military is not allowed to discriminate among the citizens with regard to the Real Americans and giving them the service and denying the rest.
J.R. – Semper Fi.
J.R., Semper fi and thanks for your article. I am looking forward to hearing the Marine viewpoint from inside the industry.
I would offer a compromise with the Hollywood types who make these anti-war bombs. I will watch your movies, regardless of the “message,” if you portray the Marines in them straight-up. Marines sometimes do crappy things and Generals make some decisions with an eye on the domestic political situation and their future job prospects. However, there are a lot more Marines who do noble and even heroic things. If you, Mr Hollywood Producer, want to make movies in which some Marines do terrible things as a metaphor for the “heart of darkness,” roger that. Just realistically portray the other Marines around them. I know from experience that most of us will fast forward past the eye-roll inducing message scenes, and revel in the motivational Gunny Hartman squadbay tirades or Col Jessep’s “you want me on that wall”-type soliloquies.
Here is a suggestion: the book, Gift of Valor, by Michael Phillips. The story of Corporal Jason Dunham, the first Marine to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor since Vietnam. I would almost guarantee that if Cpl Dunham’s story is made into a movie, it would blow all other movies made about the war in Iraq out of the water. It is a short read, I would encourage anyone who has lost faith in the American serviceman/woman to read this book, and hopefully, someone will read it…or atleast look into the story enough…and realize that Cpl Dunham’s story is the story that Americans long to hear but hasn’t because of a select number of individual’s personal agendas.
SF
J.R.
Thank you for your service and this piece. I am a Soldier of 15 years and heading for my fourth tour to Iraq. Without a doubt you are right on the money when describing why Iraq based movies have failed. Contrary to the left’s inane perception, we are not men and women who long for wars and people to kill…in fact I guarantee we hate it more than they do…because we understand what it entails, becuase we lose friends, see real horrors perpetuated against innocents, and lose irreplacable time with our loved ones at home. I understand Hollywood’s tendency to dramatize, but our lives hardly need to be dramatized. But it is not only Hollywood’s or even then left’s fault.
We are fastly becoming an apathetic nation, and in our apathy have lost sight of two very important American values: Responsibilty and Integrity. The nation fails to understand our responsibility to the people of Iraq. I have heard from conservatives and liberals alike that we need to just let the Iraqis deal with their own problems, totally shirking our responsibilty for the state of that nation. In 2003, this country, regardless of what spews from the media now, was whole heartedly in favor of invading Iraq. We now must be held accountable for what we as a nation, not just George Bush and Dick Cheney decided was right, and blaiming soley these men is where our lack of integrity shows. When things got tough we blamed and pointed fingers. While Hollywood and many members of our Congress cried failure in Iraq so loud and so long that it seemed a foregone conclusion, the men and women of our Armed Services continued to be responsible for this nations actions, continued to work by with and through the Iraqi populace to develop security for their democracy to have a chance. The stories of heroism both of American Servicemen and Iraqi Soldiers are astounding and inspirational. However, in every case Hollywood feels it needs to add some apology to their depictions of this war. Do not shed a tear for the men and women who protect this country, save that tear for those who have lost their moral compass, they are the ones I pity.
J.R.-
Thank you for your service, and thank you for representing the best of America: our Heroes, the Marines, Soldiers, Sailors and Airmen who sacrifice to protect us and the Liberty we enjoy.
It’s good to see more men and women of honor getting into acting, politics, the arts, teaching, and professions that are dominated by Leftists, many of whom have wildly warped and distorted ideas about our Military men and women.
We aren’t machines who blindly follow any orders, we are humans, Patriots, who deeply care about Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness and the high ideals and principles evident in our Constitution and Bill of Rights.
There are a few bad apples in our Armed Forces and many in Hollywood and on the Left like to use them as examples of our Military because it fits their warped ideas of the type of people who voluntarily join and serve.
Of course, many of those same Hollywood types would never even consider risking their lives for the sake of Liberty, so it’s no wonder they don’t comprehend there are some things worse than death.
The crime rate in our Military is far lower than in civilian life, but you would never know that from the movies Hollywood has been putting out or the coverage by biased reporters. Heck, some of these folks want us to lose. Pretty pathetic, really.
The noble idea of making movies portraying our Troops as Heroes to raise moral among the ilitary and civilian movie goers is a rare thing these days. I could say the same thing about our MSM too, since all they are concerned about is making our Military look bad at every opportunity.
It’s no wonder these anti-war, anti-military, anti-American films are all tanking at the box office, and the MSM are losing viewers on TV and losing subscribers to their papers. Americans are sick of this crap and aren’t about to pay for more of it.
I believe the tide will change, but it won’t be from the Left, it’ll be from Conservatives, like the one’s here at Big Hollywood. In fact, it’s happening now, and there will be a snowball effect, thanks to Patriots like J.R.! These folks really support the Troops!
Thanks again and God bless!
Semper Gratus
I think every one of the Hollywood Iraq films – not surprisingly all disparaging of our servicemen/women – have been bombs. One needn’t make a movie with false heroics – just tell it like it has been. It would make money. Most of the good I have learned of them has been through internet posts.
It is rather shameful when I read on another web site that a veteran in the Hollywood industry was told to keep quite about his service if he wanted to keep working – it is almost as if Hollywood is a Fifth Column trying to demoralize the country. You look at the Hollywood stars of the 1940s who gave up fame and fortune to service – Clark Gable, Jimmy Stewart are just a few – and compare that to today.
I was proud to wear the uniform 35 years ago – my nephew is going to Ranger school for some grueling training and then to Afghanistan to take the fight to the enemy. I couldn’t be more proud of him.
The counter-movement is beginning, and there are teams out there making films with limited funds and lot’s of heart. It’s up to us to generate the buzz needed to get these projects funded and into theaters or onto television screens across the country. “Taking Chance” seems to be a solid first step, and if it is then we need to promote it. Every one of us. The first theater-bound pro-military documentary that I’m aware of is called “Brothers at War.” You can watch the trailer and learn more here:
http://www.brothersatwarmovie.com/
The culture won’t change itself. It is time we realized that we need to do more than just read about these issues, we need to act on them!
Semper Fi
From the Main post you say:
“(their mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons and daughters)”
I give you something every American should have seen SEVERAL TIMES!
Lizzy Palmer.
and how about this one?
Kazaia Hancock?
The Media finds “ordinary hero’s” in Michael Moore who “speaks truth to power” while holding an oscar, but not for these two very real “Ordinary Hero’s” or as people who have worn a uniform like to say. . .
“Hero’s”
What the Hollywood scum merchants don’t understand is that it is people like yourself, who picked up a weapon to keep America what it is,are the ones that allow them to make their anti American crap movies. They continue to belittle and debase the very same men and women who would die for this country with film after film. There is an audience for movies that show the real valour and guts that our armed forces have, and maybe they’ll eventually get it. In the past Hollywood was on our side, now they join the fight with the enemy against us. Sickening.
@OIF VET-”Brothers at War” is magnificent. I urge everyone to support this documentary. Jake Rademacher has done his brothers and the military proud. I am anxiously awaiting it’s release so that the rest of America can see it.
As far as “Taking Chance” goes, I have no idea what the overall tone is but after watching the trailer it made me a little hopeful in that it showed how the rest of America treats our men and women in uniform–they stop to thank them, they buy them a cup of coffee, they ask them if they can help at all–this is the least we can do to thank them. I live in LA and when I travel for work I usually see soldiers in the airports. I always thank them for their service and it makes my co-workers uncomfortable. I don’t understand this.
JR
Good piece. Former sailor here. I’ve debated several liberals on John Nolte’s other website about Hollywood’s anti-war bias. They always claim it’s about the money and Hollywood is just following the market. I always point out then if it is about the money why would Hollywood keep making them if the first couple lost money and why wouldn’t they try a pro-troops/U.S. movie just to see if it made money. To no surprise they start changing the conditions of the argument saying things like most anti-war movies are “vanity projects” so don’t count. They never seem to want to continue.
It’s no surprise the left in the West is so anti-military. Look at what passes for liberal thought in America and Europe it’s all about nihilism and self gratification and causes (global warming) that let you feel morally superior to the stupid rubes but don’t actually have to sacrifice anything for.
I get the same response: “Really? You don’t seem like the army ‘type’.” Usually from people whose only “experience” with soldiers is from watching T.V. and movies.
Also, your comment on the article about the lack of success of “Iraq films” reminds me of an article I read on why “The Golden Compass” had done so poorly in theaters. The writer was convinced that America was tired of “family fantasy” movies. Never mind the overwhelming success of the LoTR and Chronicles of Narnia movies, the genre was dead. It wasn’t the subject-matter or “moral” of the movie, it was the genre…..right.
Are they really that blinded by their ideology and culture or are they just in denial?
Great post J.R. Head and look forward to your future posts. Now that the liberals of Hollywood have Obama becoming president, I believe they will start doing some positive movies about Iraq and Afghanistan. If not, Semper Gumby…sooner or later Hollywood will do positive movies about the troops like they did about 10 years after the end of Vietnam. Hopefully, more positive veterans like yourself will wind up in Hollywood like after WW II. RAH! from a retired Gunny.
Hollywood will never make positive movies about the battles of Afghanistan and Iraq. Bruce Willis wanted to make a movie about the Deuce-Four unit in Iraq. No studio would make it. It took Andy Garcia 15 years to make the movie the Lost City all because Hollywood loves Fidel Castro and his movie is anti-Fidel. Imagine John Wayne wanting to make Sands of Iwo Jima, and Hollywood saying no.
I don’t think Hollywood will be able to make an honest movie about the military no matter who’s in the White House. As others have pointed out: they just don’t get it. When I told my friends I was joining the Air Force after college (with a fine arts degree), they were flabbergasted. There was nothing in them that could grasp why I would ever want to do such a thing. And yes, they assumed something was wrong. Surely I was forced into the decision. I never got through to them, because for one person to empathize with another, they have to be able to put themselves in the other’s place. They couldn’t do that. I really think that the averqage Hollywood “type” possesses none of the qualities that lead a person to volunteer to serve. As long as that is true, they will be unable to comprehend what the military does and why.
Politicians are cowards they send others to go fight their wars, real conservatives would be arguing against going to war and giving huge amounts of tax dollars to corporations and the military industrial complex so that they can make war and grow rich.
The military creates killers, none of which is good for society is peace times, wars only benefit the rich.
To “Politicians”
You post: “The military creates killers”
I say “The military creates protectors”
Your unintelligible opinions are quite ludicrous…
THANK YOU J.R. HEAD!
My understanding is now that Iraq is a winner while Al Gores Climate Change is proven a fraud, Hollywood has moveon.orged to making movies about Evil Business and how evil CEO’s are stealing from the poor peoples of the world; the hero of course will always either Che or FDR-revamped to fit the 21st century icon of the peoples revolution.
That said; I love Marines along with all who serve, they are the best thing going in America.
“Politicians are cowards they send others to go fight their wars, real conservatives would be arguing against going to war and giving huge amounts of tax dollars to corporations and the military industrial complex so that they can make war and grow rich.”
Except the massive Entitlement Industrial Complex is three times the size of the military industrial complex and earns a hundred times more for Politicians who keep promising the government will take care of all the peoples wants and needs only to end up enslaving the peoples to miserable serfdom for all of their lives.
Take a look at all the ‘rich’ people who paid almost a billion$$$ to get The One elected as leader of the Entitlement Industrial Complex; this way George Soros, Warren Buffet, Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates et al will receive greater profit in their position as Slave Masters.
J.R.,
I don’t feel it can be said enough: Thank you for your service.
“Politicians” … I don’t think you’d know a real conservative if they bit you in the butt, but let’s discuss something of greater significance.
As someone who works in the “complex” you malign, let me make something clear to you.
Our work saves lives:
> The life of the warfighter, by simultaneously enhancing their physical safety, situational awareness, and ability to execute the mission and achieve the objective.
> The life of the innocent noncombatant, by facilitating both the situational awareness and the targeting accuracy that enables the warfighter to differentiate — far better now than at any time in history — between the innocent and the enemy when it comes to putting steel on target.
> The lives of ALL who value life and liberty … by empowering the warfighter to efficiently, expeditiously, and decisively end the ability of an enemy to threaten life and liberty.
I take pride in my work … what have you done to save lives today?
J.R. … understand that, despite my pride in my work expressed above, I can’t hold a candle to the Men and Women who wear/have worn the Uniform when it comes to courage … and their love for their fellow man.
Thanks for serving … and for standing up to the intellectually-stunted you now have to work with in the entertainment industry. Keep your boots tightly laced … for those you work with are mired in the conventional wisdom of the last century, which has been known to suck the boots off a man if he’s not careful.
First, as a Viet Nam vet who has experienced over the last 38 years all of the possible ridiculous and comic reactions possible from my liberal friends, relatives, and professional acquaintances who presume to understand VN and its issues better than I, and who never set foot in that benighted land, let alone ever laced on a combat boot, you have my profound thanks for your efforts to set the record straight and give those young men and women who fought and died honorably the respect and honor they are due.
Second, to LURKER and others above who regurgitated the nostrum that depleted uranium (DU) is somehow toxic:
Do some research on DU before you paint yourselves into a corner.
Hysterical ultra-liberal journalists here and in such countries as Italy, UK, and France have convinced the general populace that DU is toxic. Communist journalists in Italy are among the most egregious. They and the others blew their moral cover rather fast when they raced to demand financial compensation for alleged victims of our DU use. Their posturing is really just all about money and professional aggrandizement.
The truth is that you get as much radiation from standing next to a granite building or pile of coal as you do from a similar amount of DU.
It is a heavy metal like lead, mercury, and tungsten and is not radioactive in the amounts the other isotopes of uranium are. Check out the periodic table of elements to confirm what I say.
Like any heavy metal, it oxidizes as it strikes armor and oxides of uranium are generally found inside and around destroyed tanks and other armored vehicles. As a heavy metal oxide, it settles to the bottom of the tank or to the ground very fast and in a form of dust that can be stirred up by wind or someone stomping around inside destroyed armor, never a wise thing to do if one does not know beforehand what ammo loads they carried. If that oxide dust gets into the air immediately around where one is, it can be inhaled and that is what can cause health problems.
As the dust oxides leach into the soil through rainfall, they can find its way into water tables but again, as they are very heavy, they sink to the bottom of the table fairly fast and insignificant amounts of the DU oxides find their way into water supplies.
Because of the hysteria surrounding it, I believe our government has ceased contracting for its production and has switched to another heavy metal – tungsten, I think. What’s sad about that is that I’m told that the oxides of tungsten are toxic in many more ways oxides of DU are not.
Had DU carried a different name like “depleted lead,” no one would have given it a second thought. “Uranium” is, pardon the pun, a radioactive word that gets immediate attention in headlines.
The hysteria surrounding DU has just produced more stupid unintended consequences from journalists with pathological anti-American agendas and an axe to grind against the only country in the world that was willing to go into the Balkans and stop the fascist Serbs from massacring every single Muslim in the Balkans Peninsula.
Do some research to learn what the Balkans Task Force run by the UN Environment Program (UNEP) found in their investigation of DU use in the Balkans. Their reports are to be found on the open internet through the UN website. Their scientists went in fully prepared to legitimize Milosevic’s claims of “envirocide” by the US and its NATO allies but had to conclude that there was very little, if any, environmental damage.
They did report, however, that among all the sites they inspected that Serbian dictator Milosevic claimed were horribly damaged environmentally by NATO DU use and other forms of aerial attacks, all but four sites were already damaged almost beyond repair from the complete lack of environmental protection by the former Yugoslav commie regime. These were factory and refinery locations that were legitimate war targets. That’s what happens when you have a commie or socialist regime that will not allow a free press that could reasonably be expected to expose such institutional environmental criminality.
I have some questions for those whose liberal knees jerk every time someone mentions one of their hot button words like “DU.”
Why is it that instead of praising the US, the only NATO country aside from the UK to stop the genocide in the Balkans, European journalists and those who laughably call themselves journalists in this country chose to zero in on DU to make it one of the premier issues of what should have been portrayed as a humanitarian action?
Another question: WWI and WWII created millions of tons of heavy metal pollution throughout several western European countries. Millions of tons of lead permeate European soil. Would it be reasonable to assume that it is leaching into their water supplies? If so, how come we hear nothing about what seems to be the lack of European governments’ action to rid their soil of that massive pollution? Could it be that heavy metals that are artificially introduced into the soil are not really a health hazard. That’s my guess.
The lefty Euro and US journalists have come down hard on the position that the US must clean up every last bit of DU that went into the soil of the Balkans and the Middle East in GWI and GWII. Shouldn’t European governments be held to the same standard given that their potential heavy metal pollution is probably 99.99999% of such pollution from military action while ours from using DU is probably about 0.00001%?
Don’t bother to provide answers. We already know what they are – We’re held to a far higher standard of behavior while other nations get a complete pass.
By the way, DU rounds we use were produced in Massachusetts, home of those champions of environmental protection, Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. How come they didn’t demand that the factory should be shut down? Oh! I think I know! Local payrolls and even more taxes for that commonwealth.
It could also be for the same general reason that Ted Kennedy put the kibosh on wind farm generators out in the bay his Hyannis Port compound faces and where he sails perfecting his water skills (snort!) – I think that is called “NIMBY,” one of the left’s cardinal sins.
Some journalists might feel that just because they baldly assert that hollywood shows marines raping people, they might have some sort of obligation to list a film in which this happens.
I believe we call such journalistic standards “liberal”.
Bombing villages? What claptrap! I defy anyone in hollywood to show a single instance of the United States dropping a single bomb on Iraq. It SIMPLY DIDNT HAPPEN.
Liberals cannot begin to fathom the mind of the men and women who serve in the military because:
1. It requires the sacrifice of SELF
2. The GIVING of SELF to COUNTRY
3. It is a truly diverse organization of volunteers, and not subject to affirmative action
4. It involves real risk to life and limb
5. More time in training is spent restraining and focusing ‘killer’ instinct than unleashing ‘killer’ instinct
6. Working within the confines of ROE is worse than having your ‘creativity’ stifled by ‘censorship’ (aka, a ratings board… which really isn’t censorship as censorship would prohibit ‘un-rated’ DVD’s)
Need we go on? The list could continue onwards!
Thanks for laying down the gauntlet! Maybe we can get another ‘Blackhawk Down’ or ‘We Were Soldiers’ out of this challenge! This time, with our stories from Iraq and Afghanistan!
Michael “Sudsy” Sutherland
USAF 02AUG00-02JUL07 OIF SEP05-FEB06, NOV06-MAY07
Ou-yo-yu what a nice site!
==
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Thanks, "JR"; you make an old friend proud.
Looking at the problem from the POV of a non-Hollywood writer, it gets even more puzzling. The tension between a good person and an ambiguous (or worse) cause or an ambiguous (or worse) person and a good cause makes for great storytelling — that goes back to Huck Finn. If you take the (entirely supportable; I'm certainly willing to argue it) dramatic position that, say, the War in Iraq is an ambiguous cause, putting good people in the way of literally fighting for it should be a natural story to tell. (It's one of the reasons that, say, Taking Chance is so powerful — you can bring whatever your feelings are about the Iraq War to it and find the pain and decency and honor of the Marines who bring his body home moving without having to touch your own political positions.)
Stories about honorable men — and women; we got our first female Silver Star winner out of Iraq, after all — in the Iraq War should be out there. And folks who oppose the war wouldn't have to change one bit of their own political positions to tell those stories.
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