th3midnighter
Name: th3midnighter
Joined On: Mar 13, 2006
Maintag: Th3 Midnighter
Age: 30
Occupation: Tactical Snow Senior Design Language Specialist
Location: Toronto, Canada
Currently: Offline
Last seen: 12/3/08
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07/29/08 Return to main blog
Generation WTF
Ok, so I love love love this show Generation Kill and well, I was a huge fan of the Wire so I knew this show would be well written, well acted but I'm confused about something. Are real military leaders this retarded? Actually, I’m insulting all Down syndrome and autistic people by comparing them to the military leaders on this show. I know the show is based on the real life experience of a reporter who was embedded with a recon Marine Battalion but I'm not sure if they are embellishing the stupidity of the military leaders for entertainment value or whether this is how it is in the real world as well. Since I'm Canadian, my experience with military life consists of choosing the right perk in COD4 so when I see some crazy decisions made by company commanders like dropping a bomb 200 yards from Marines or leaving a fully stocked military vehicle behind, I scratch my head. I'm amazed the marines haven’t turned the gun on their superiors yet. So far, they’ve been made to run a gauntlet through a small town without air cover or artillery, they’ve been told to eat 1 ration a day, leave behind a supply truck only to see it blown up, and on top of all that, they have maybe the most retarded leader I've ever seen in TV or movies in Encino Man. That dude might be mildly comatose. The show is excellent but all I keep thinking is, when are they gonna mutiny? Anyways, it’s on HBO on sunday nights so watch the show if you can. You won't be sorry. So ex military guys and gals, is this how it actually is?
Posted by th3midnighter on Tue Jul 29, 2008 @ 11:39 am EDT | 4 Comments
Don't believe everything you see on TV/movies. As with the majority of military movies, they are produced for entertainment value...not reality. Most of them disgust me.
Posted by DreadPirate75 on Tue Jul 29, 2008 @ 12:00 pm EDT
Posted by Automan21k on Tue Jul 29, 2008 @ 12:12 pm EDT
Great / Good military leaders in peace doesn't always equal great / good leaders in war.
And yeah, some of it is embellishment.
In my limited experience, almost any officer can make Captain in the military. After that, it gets really hard to get promoted.
As for the SgtMajor who's batshit? Yeah, they exist. The Grooming Standard? Jeesh.
The kevalar helmet last night? The way the SgtMajor reacted didn't surprise me.
And, to an extent, he was right. The Marine was an idiot for not using the chin strap. Going without a chin-strap is considered doing a "John Wayne", and isn't tolerated in the USMC.
Posted by SoupNazzi on Tue Jul 29, 2008 @ 12:32 pm EDT
So yea long story short, some officers are just that stupid.
But yea I really enjoy Generation Kill I think it is one of the most realistic war shows I have seen on TV.
Dread if you haven't seen it you should watch it. In the making of pieces I watched on HBO demand they even admit that while yes some of the things have been dramatized for TV they have tried to keep it as real as possible. A few of the key actors are real Marines one of which was with this reporter that wrote the book I guess.
Check out the about the series link at http://www.hbo.com/generationkill/ for more info on the real life marines that were in the show.
Posted by Sladrian on Thu Aug 21, 2008 @ 12:57 pm EDT
