Hollywood is the mirror through which we see the world either more brightly than it actually exists, or very much more darkly. Read here the world as it actually is, and why it would be better – braver – to err on the side of caution:
Leftist movies portraying our troops as reprobates and fools may not make it to the wilds of Nuristan. But you can bet they make it to the headquarters of our enemies and give them encouragement, not to mention ideas. They make our soldiers’ mission harder and increase the danger to their lives. And here’s a funny thing some people in LA may not understand about those lives: they’re real. Commander Perez and Rory and First Sergeant Mitchell and all the rest—they’re not characters played by actors. They’re real Americans who left real parents and wives and children at home and opted to fight our enemies in dangerous places far away. I don’t think De Palma and Robert Redford and Paul Haggis are bad men. They’re certainly entitled to believe what they want. But when they make these movies during wartime, when they endanger these soldiers and their mission, I think they’re doing something bad—something wicked, really. They are aiding and abetting the enemy’s Information Operations. And they ought to stop.
Amen, brother.
Don’t forget the actors like George Clooney and Gary Busey. They directly portray Americans as evil psychopaths for profit.
Hollywood these days reminds me a lot of the so-called “defense reformers” of the 70′s and 80′s… you know, the ones that wanted to eliminate the teen series of fighters and replace them all with F-5′s. The ones that wanted to get rid of radars, tanks, and aircraft carriers, all for small, cheap alternatives. What they both have in common was their declarations that they were doing it all “for the boys”. Because, you know, our young pilots would have survived so much longer in an F-5 when going up against a MiG-29. Same thing with Clooney, Redford, et al. They’re really tearing our guys down because they care. They have to destroy the village in order to save it, so to speak.
What a good article that is! He gets it! Thanks, Lex.
Since all their ‘war films’ are losing money, you’d think somebody would catch on and try something different…you know… like respectful. Too much to hope for I’m sure, even in these wonderful days of hope and change.
Amen, and may we apply the word “unpatriotic” or is it forever stricken from the lexicon of allowable words?
…giving aid and comfort
I vacationed in Turkey several years ago and had a great time, and I developed a fondness for the Turks. But I could tell that the younger Turks were getting a regular dose of anti-Americanism from Hollywood, and that it was having an effect. Everywhere I went I saw posters advertising that movie Busey “starred” in, “Valley of the Wolf – Irak”. What a POS. Both.
Lex … that’s an incredible narrative you linked to — the kind of on-the-ground story that Ernie Pyle and other classic war correspondents used to write. Thanks for showing it to us. It’s the only way we’ll get any kind of realistic picture of the war in the Middle East. God knows, the mainstream media won’t tell us about it; 1] because they’re afraid to go over there and report it; and 2] because their left-leaning editors and publishers won’t let them.
We’ve come to a pretty pass when they only news we get of the war is from heroic guys like Michael Yon who had to finance his own expenses to get over there to report, and from the guys who are boots-on-the-ground military like this young man.
The mainstream media has no shame, and they ought to.
Marianne
“giving aid and comfort”[to the enemies of the United States]
The proper word for it, constitutionally, no less, is Treason. Hang ‘em all, let Satan sort ‘em out.
I think back on all of the wonderful movies and good feelings of WWII vintage as a contrast to what’s being produced today. Films of yesterday were produced and played in our “favor” while today the effort is in what we did was wrong.
It started with the Vietnam era, with the exception of John Wayne and “The Green Berets”, and has now become a Hollywood indoor sport to pick off the sons and daughters of America by using their motive for freedom. Free speech notwithstanding, I would agree with blackeagle in applying the “unpatriotic” tag to a good share of the current crop.
The era of patriotic, home team war stories will be missed; good feelings we’ve felt will not be enjoyed in the future. They’ll be replaced with “what’s wrong” with our side, playing the politically correct to see the fault with our motives, actions and results.
I fear that future generations will see nothing but the ills described by our current Hollywood types, causing our children’s children to see us and history in their warped and molded fashion. We’ll lose the very good will of later generations because Robert Redford, Susan Sarandon, Oliver Stone, Danny Glover, Tim Robbins, et al believe they must play the Devil’s Advocate role. The rub is that they go beyond even that in their portrayals to be pc. Their enthusiasm for “their craft” lends one to wonder, yes… question their hearts and minds.
For me, I choose Audie Murphy in “To Hell and Back” or Clark Gable in “Run Silent, Run Deep”. Where is Tom Clancy? Has anyone heard from him? We need him again!
I couldn’t disagree more…
I think they ARE bad men.
It’s why I seldom watch their movies…
that’s my policy.
I disagree wholeheartedly with the statement “I don’t think De Palma and Robert Redford and Paul Haggis are bad men.” They are what they do. And don’t forget, they are of and from ‘the party of “intelligence”‘ that has beaten Bush down so because he’s not one of them, so he’s ‘stupid’ like any of the rest of us who might agree with some of his actions.
I give these people, and their cohort, credit for being smart enough to know what they are doing. All of it. While I might wish for them to c change, and for our government to take them to task for what the effects of their actions are, what I can DO is to avoid giving them my money in any form possible. I don’t watch their movies, and I refuse to support anything that I find them involved with. Besides that, I tell people when appropriate what I think of them and what they do. Small stuff, but it’s what I do.
John Wayne caught hell over “The Green Berets.”
Most of Hollywood’s work isn’t worth watching. I don’t watch 5% of it’s output, and that’s a very charitable estimate. In the last 10 years I’ve seen the second Star Wars trilogy, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe, and that’s it. I pretty much quit after my son and I went to see Starship Troopers. What a turkey.
[...] Lex, a good read about Afghanistan in the context of Another Bad Antiwar Movie. Contains stuff like [...]
This article would have been a million times better, if the guy had bothered to get the story out as should be done…
He lost me when he started injecting his opinions.
Aside from all of that, this article brought back a lot of memories and a shocking amount of emotions came with them. He barely scratched the surface of what it’s like, but he came close enough to put me right back in Helmand Province.
But before I lose my mind and my temper kicks in… which will now be not so controllable, I’m going to leave with just saying that I’m so sick and tired of everyone taking our stories and turning them into some kind of right/left wing conspiracy/agenda. And he did it too. Despite the fact that he was trying to call the others out, he just added to all the bullshit. Nevermind what the soldiers do, it’s all about Hollywood and what they’re doing/not doing.
Got it.
Quartermaster, you’ve missed a lot of good movies. Even if you follow Sturgeon’s Law, there’s at least two or three good movies released every year.
I really must disagree with your characterization of idiot lefty actors as traitors. While they may indirectly give aid and comfort, it is self-evident that the original language refers to a conscious choice to do so. According to your formula, anyone who protests any war is, by definition,a traitor, since opposing any given war is giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
I prefer Zell Miller’s response to that drooling lackwit Chris Matthews: we aren’t questioning their patriotism, we are questioning their judgment.
Don’t forget there are people out there like Gary Sinise, and The Lt. Dan Band; Bruce Willis (no one’s mentioned Tears of the Sun yet), Jon Voight, Dennis Leary, Adam Sandler, Robert Duvall, and Denzel Washington.
Not only that, it is self-evident that many artists (actors, musicians, writers) have become more vocal about their beliefs; coming out of the closet, as it were. I suspect we will see a different environment five or ten years from now.
On the gripping hand, how upset should we become about the movies discussed above, when every single one of them bombed!? Compare this to BlackHawk Down, Tears of the Sun, Team America, 300, We Were Soldiers, Master and Commander, The Dark Knight, and Iron Man.
There are s0me other excellent recent examples, but I won’t belabor the point here. These movies exist, and they do well. Draw your own conclusions.
As a parting note I’ll observe that many contemporary rock bands have demonstrated a significant love of country. Point of evidence: 3 Doors Down’s Citizen Soldier. How many rock videos quote the Soldier’s Creed?
Late in joining up here. Basically I agree wholeheartedly with STEVEC. Unfortunately, although I pretty much follow his advise in denying these movies my dinero, the financial mechanics of movie-making has changed so much that these efforts have little direct effect on the actors and directors. In the old days studio heads had their own money down and had a vested personal interest in the box office success of the movie in question. Now the major players all get their money upfront and losses are tax write offs to the major corporations like Sony, etc. So everyone is free to vent their politics without it hurting their bank account.