Posted on 07/29/2005 9:40:58 PM PDT by U.H. Conservative
So I watched the new FX war drama “Over There” with some trepidation. After all, September 11th was an event that galvanized our nation and, four years later, there have been no movies or TV shows (24 excluded) based on it or its aftermath. The Iraq War is divisive and still in progress. Would this be another MASH, a show so gleefully anti-war that decades later its stars still cannot find it in themselves to support the military?
I was pleasantly surprised. First, the enemies in this movie are Iraqi terrorists. In a world of Islamic terror in which most movies have terrorists being Serbs (24 first season), Russian gangsters (XXX), rogue U.S soldiers (FX movie “Meltdown) and neo-Nazis (appalling revision of Tom Clancy’s Sum of All Fears), it is gratifying to see that we are not fighting Norwegian energy executives. That said, the fact that my critique begins with the fact that the writers at least get the enemies right is not meant to be damnation by faint praise.
If I had to describe the show’s philosophical view, I’d have to call it profoundly sympathetic to the soldiers on the line. The foolishness of politicians and the senior brass is shown when soldiers are not allowed to obliterate a mosque full of terrorists because Al Jazeera is on scene. Instead, the soldiers are almost subject to discipline when returning fire while following the orders of a lieutenant who seems less than competent. Only the intervention of a common sense officer (Captain, I think) saves them from the lieutenant’s wrath.
Also heartening was an exchange between two black soldiers after the above referenced incident. The lieutenant in question is also black, leading one soldier to suggest that criticisms of the officer were motivated by racism. The second black refuses to engage in racial separatism, rebuking his fellow soldier and reminding him that they are all brothers in arms.
The show also avoids becoming a liberal propaganda vehicle for women in combat. In the first episode, the idea that you can keep women on the edge of the frontlines without them entering combat is blown away by two women truck drivers trapped in a combat zone. The writers avoid the temptation to turn these women into super soldiers a la G.I. Jane. Instead, the very real and relevant physical differences between men and women are shown in battle.
Of course, this was only the first episode. It could go sideways from here. But Steven Bochco gave us NYPD Blue, in which we learned to cheer for a Detective Sipowicz who would have been buried in the deepest dungeon possible if the ACLU had their way. Hopefully, the writers will not go the Hollywood way and portray our soldiers as thugs with no other options than serving their country.
stupid show portrayed our soldiers as idiots, peaceniks and druggies...who would honestly believe that todays' soldiers are smoking dope in their sand trenches?
I was extremely po'ed.
Soliders smoke dope, some do anyway.
In the first gulf war, soldiers added hash oil to the floor wax to defeat the drug sniffing dogs going thru the barraks.
Drugs in the military: Not smart, not everyone, but it does happen.
1. Iraq harbored the terrorist who killed Leon Klinghoffer, an American citizen. Hussein also funded suicide bombers in Israel who had among their victims Americans. Hussein's intelligence service also attempted to assassinate the former President Bush. Finally, Laurie Mylroie(sp?) makes a fairly convincing case that Iraqi intelligence might have had a hand in the first WTC attack.
2. Whether or not you agreed with entering the war, we are there now. Iraqi terrorists are killing our soldiers. If that doesn;t make them our enemy, what would?
The terrorists aren't all Iraqi. Oh, granted there are some disgruntled former Ba'ath party members, Al-Sadr scum and others among the terrorists, but quite a few of them are not "home grown." When they announce the nationalities of terrorists who are arrested in Iraq, it seems more of them are from other countries than are from Iraq.
Ping
'Soliders smoke dope, some do anyway.
In the first gulf war, soldiers added hash oil to the floor wax to defeat the drug sniffing dogs going thru the barraks.'
No kidding? I thought these 'professional' soldiers were more 'professional'....in the stupid 'Over There' show (did you see it? I want your opinion..), they showed a black soldier smoking dope in the trenches with attacks imminent ..I thought it was a transparent attempt to link to the 'quagmire concept' of the VN days...
I have not seen it.
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