...look like this?
Posted on 03/21/2021 7:09:38 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
The victim(Santiago) was of course, a person of color. Defendants were a queer-like, just as Hollywood would have it. Then there's the ugly old white guy(Nicholson)going up against the cocky young Ricky Nelson-looking, brash defense lawyer(Cruise). Throw in the black authority figure(judge) along with a strong female(Demi Moore) standing up to the neanderthal men and there you have it. What could go wrong? Don't forget the sexual tension between the 2-they didn't finish. .
Nicholson is the best actor of his generation. Cruise i must admit is very good.
Then you have never met a Marine Colonel. Back in the day two ranks you did not mess with was a Captain or a Colonel. Both are commanding officer ranks, company and regiment.
It was typical twisted Hollywood. They over-played Cruise’s character as oh so caring. I actually was (and am) with Nicholson’s character in all but one respect. He should have never left his subordinates dangling. He should have said from the beginning “Yes, I ordered the disciplinary action. I run my unit and I get results. Accidents happen, even in the most innocuous of training. Prove me wrong.”
Yeah. Jack was the man in that movie albeit a hit movie. I used that truth phrase long before the movie cause it’s true. A lot of people want to believe in fairy tales.
“Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinburg? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago, and you curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That Santiago’s death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And that my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don’t want the truth because deep down in places you don’t talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don’t give a damn what you think you are entitled to.”
My opinion of this line changed after I served. It’s more truthful and more applicable daily. It is easy to complain about things when you don’t have to make this sacrifices. To
The most truthful statement ever made in a movie about military service.
But even they had their bosses to answer to. I understand what you are saying though. The main reason I left the Marine Corps after four years (made it to full Sergeant which was E-5 during that time) was because even at E-5, an O-1 or even a warrant officer was superior to me by many degrees. One of the most unpleasant experiences I had was having my Master Gunnery Sergeant (E-9) getting unfairly dressed down publicly by a fresh-faced 2nd Lieutenant just out of the officer academy. This Master Gunnery Sergeant had nearly 30 years of service and multiple tours in Vietnam and Korea.
I figured that if this is how enlisted men will always potentially be treated by the officers, I wanted no part of it for a career. That said, I served with many officers during my four years that were outstanding individuals who treated the enlisted men with respect.
But yes, once above O-6, these officers become very powerful and sometimes it goes to their heads.
After 35 years in civilian life, I've reached the executive level at my current company so I guess I'm an "officer" myself in that respect. One of the managers that report to me used to be a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army. That does blow my mind sometimes but he's a great guy and we've never had an issue.
media, which includes movies, has been used by the left as propaganda vehicles for decades.
their anti-white-male / anti-1950s-America drive is not new.
you need to see it for what it is.
sitting on the fence only helps them as any opposition hurts them
I’m glad you warned me. Thanks!
You may not take movies too seriously, but I can assure you the moviemakers do. Every film, even the lightest of comedies, have a message and directors and actors, like today’s journalists, are out to change society.
Cruise is
My Sgt Maj thought it was a hit piece, too, as I recall.
1. Santiago would never have passed a military pre-enlistment physical with that heart condition.
2. Or his first examination by a Corpsman after passing out from it in boot camp.
3. Or the follow-up exam from a Navy Doctor after the 2nd blackout.
The movie kind of takes a “pooh-pooh” attitude toward military medical practitioners, but those three levels of guys have nothing better to do with their time but send kids home from boot camp. You can get medically discharged from boot camp for anything. Plantar fasciitis? Try college, kid. Shin splints? Try flipping burgers. A guy got dropped from my platoon for bed wetting. Too many sick calls, and they will drop you for obviously not “packing the gear” to enable you to “hack it.” Even in 89 they were bean-counting that stuff.
However, the plot really has to have Santiago DIE during his “blanket party” (I don’t understand where they got “code red”), so poor Willie Santiago somehow managed to get by with his heart condition for, let’s see... 13 weeks of boot camp, 10 days leave, 4 weeks MCT, 3 days leave, 4 weeks at SOI, then some more leave... almost 6 months. And then he gets all soft after getting to Guantanamo Bay?
The black guy outranked the white guy if I remember correctly, and the white guy didn’t seem all that bright, so I think the junior was relying on the authority and experience of his senior.
YES, IT’S A HIT PIECE ON THE CORPS! IT’S FROM THE MEATHEAD
WHAT BETTER CAN YOU EXPECT? THE WRITING IS TRASH, EVERY SCENE IS UNREALISTIC MASTURBATORY FANTASY, HAD COL.JESSUP SIMPLY
SMILED, AND SAID “I DON’T RECALL,” THE FILM WOULD HAVE ENDED WITH HIM PROMOTED TO GENERAL, AND THE CRUZ CHARACTER STANDING IN THE COURTROOM WITH HIS THUMB UP HIS AZZ!
THE WHOLE FILM WAS VAPID ANTI MILITARY NONSENSE.
JUST WHAT YOU’D EXPECT FROM THE MEATHEAS, AND NO BETTER.
Colonel Jessup was given direct explicit orders not to allow the enlisted men to enforce discipline in the form of “code reds”.
Jessup perjured himself and would have allowed two subordinates to be imprisoned for life based on lies. Jessup destroyed the official record of a military flight. It also appears that he coerced a military physician into a false determination of the cause of a death.
Not my hero.
...look like this?
Tom Cruise’s character... I’ve never known a naval officer like that in my life. Openly insubordinate, flippant, always in the wrong uniform....
Started to watch this just the other day. I’ve never seen it...and I never will. It was obvious it was an ‘agenda’ film with the hispanic, female officer, etc. I shut it off.
He was a former college athlete, and director Rob Reiner thought he would be a perfect fit to cast him in the role of the young U.S. Marine on trial in the murder case. He was personable and physically imposing, and his lack of acting experience would make it easy for him to play the role of a guy who ritually followed orders and could be portrayed as a young, idealistic type of character.
With regard to movies, I don’t take them all too seriously, nor do I apply a political litmus test to them. They can be a nice distraction from everyday life.
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I served USN in 50s and 60s and the depiction of the ‘mindset’ of the Front liners and ‘civilians/REMFs’ was depicted well in the movie.
The ‘hero’ worship of the young White kid toward his Black buddy was not overdone as it was plausible (for the period depicted)
When I first saw the Eastwood movie ‘Heartbreak Ridge’ I scoffed at it and had a bad opinion of it etc until someone told me to ‘forget the Corps’ look at it as an adventure/comedy...
That mindset worked and I was also able to watch ‘Full Metal Jacket’ without ‘tearing it apart’.
One of my great laughs (movie wise) was the uproar when it was revealed that Cages’ job in ‘Windtalkers’was to shoot the Indian were they to be overrun...
Which, BTW, I had picked up on and was criticized for pointing it out....
Of course, think R Kipling & ‘Tommy’......
The drill team is actually the Texas A&M team.
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