In the past few days I've been watching the HBO mini-series "Generation Kill"; adapted from the book of the same name by Rolling Stone reporter Evan Wright, it is a highly realistic drama that follows a battalion of US Marines through the first one hundred days of the Iraq war. I'm mainly watching it because it is written and produced by none other than 'The Wire' supremeos David Simon & Ed Burns .. oh and it has a main part played by James Ransone or to Wire watchers, the awesome and tragic Ziggy from Season 2. Also I figured that a new series by Simon being aired on HBO would be equally gripping drama.

I have not been disappointed, as Generation Kill contains all the elements of The Wire that made it the epic and compelling show that it was. As with The Wire, Generation Kill starts out by throwing you right into the proverbial shit... no intros as to the premise of the show, the situation or the characters. It's a whirlwind of a whistle stop tour through all the players within the battalion.. people barking names, usually confusing nicknames and their ranks left right and centre so that you have no clue who or what anyone is talking about. Knowing the names and rankings/hierarchy of the characters is vital to knowing what the fuck is going on... just as it was vital to know the hierarchy of the police dept. and gangs in The Wire. It is also hyper realistic, as was The Wire, and soon you'll be immersed in the marine's slang as well as their technical and military speak; you'll know what ROE's are and when to step off.  

And so you follow the journey of the young marines, mainly of the four that the reporter rides with (one being Ziggy's character - Cpl. Person seen here giving his expert view on why the US are in Iraq), through there different missions and trials. It's safe to say that Simon has painted the military war in Iraq in a similar way to the war on drugs in Baltimore; ultimately it's the institutions themselves, bureaucracy and incompetent chain of command that fuck things up and is the downfall of the men on the ground trying to win a war. As with the homicide dept. in The Wire, the marine unit contains highly trained men ready to do their job properly, and then there are the incompetent dicks within the command who constantly follow protocol and orders, even when it's counterproductive. Then there are the plain psychotic idiots who shouldn't be allowed to go near a gun like Captain America, who freaks out at the slightest sign of combat firing off rounds of ammo into empty cars and shouting like a maniac at everything ... which happens to be hilarious when watched, but disconcerting when you realise that he's based on a real life marine. However, it lacks the element of the homicide detectives who just couldn't give a fuck... here the marines are gagging for military action like Cpl. Trombley who displays a disturbing psycho streak to his views and actions.

There are some incidents and scenes which bring home the gravity of the mistakes than can be made and the frustration of a lack of strategy. The best scene so far for me has been at the start of episode five, where the unit were calmly doing recon on a small hamlet filled with women and children, which out of nowhere gets blown to shit after an aerial assault, which no one called in. Though as you can see from these clips, that whilst GK is a hard hitting and evocative drama about the cluster fuck that has been the Iraq war, it is also perfectly balanced with humour that the characters bring, and some lovely insightful conversations and comments into the way of the world ... yes you guessed it ... just as The Wire did. The similarities in style, writing and direction are plain to see, but then I see no wrong in that, as The Wire has been one of the greatest pieces of drama in... well all of TV.

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I still have the last two episodes to watch, but what made me want to write a piece on this is the strange occurrence of a small part of me finding the idea of being a marine on some level appealing! ... I keep dreaming of such things, although I think that is due to the fact I'm watching it before I go to sleep.

Now don't get me wrong in no way am I saying that I would like to become a soldier, join the army or any of that. Or that going to war and killing innocent people appeals to me in any way. In fact the very idea of voluntarily joining an institution that is all about having an elite hierarchy, following orders, kowtowing and sucking ass to anyone higher up in rank, and is well known for being; aged, conservative and of treating new recruits like shit - is well intrinsically abhorrent to me. I actually struggle on most levels to understand why anyone sane would want to have their life run for them? To have their individuality stripped away and join a homogenous mass of men, who quite often do have question marks over their mental stability.

Now see I said above that I struggle on - key word - 'most levels', to understand why people join the army, airforce etc. It used to be a blanket covering 'all levels' of understanding, but then I don't think I'd ever really thought on the subject beyond the fact that I was averse to joining up. However, now that I have thought on it a bit more, there are actually a few of my character traits that fit in quite well with that kind of existence. I like to have goals set, and what better place than in an army where you will always have a mission set for you - and a pretty fucking important ones at that. I also like to be in control of things, although this would only work if I were high up within the chain of command, although on some level it could still work. You see I think the crux of why a life as "GI Jane" may be somewhat appealing to me is the orderliness. To have a mission, a plan, stability and a tangible meaning to your actions has a level of appeal.

I am a creature of orderliness. I love things to be clean, ordered, organised and planned. I think when I was at university I spent most of my essay time procrastinating by making lovely lists of all the books I needed, and all my resources .. hence why I usually had to write two essays in a day. I think the one thing going for the army is that it is an ordered life, everything is set out and neat. Although I think, that I only like to be this way, because I actually have the choice to do unplanned and individual things. To be able to screw with things and mess up the order of life, is a must to wanting order. If order, rules and constraints are placed upon me, then I can't stand it. It goes against my absolute need for independence and control over my own life.

And with that psycho babbling out of the way, I'll stick to my dreaming about being a marine - I think it's the driving a Hummer in those Ziggy sunglasses singing 'Tainted Love' at the top of my lungs, that does it.