SubscribeI 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.
I've become obsessed with the medium of film as of late. I've always been an avid watcher of film and I mostly enjoy films that make you think rather than the stupid Hollywood comedy. However, over the last few months I have become engrossed in researching and educating myself in film, especially those of the past.
My project started off small. After getting the observer guide to film one day in the summer I decided I would compile a list of films I should see. Sort of along the lines of those lists you find that tell you all the films you must see before you die... not that I'm planning on dying anytime soon. Anyway, what started out small grew into a pretty massive project of listing, researching and generally becoming obsessed with finding out about certain films and stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood. I've found myself becoming increasingly enchanted by the world of 1940s film, more specifically film noir. Other genres of that era like the romantic comedy's or musicals don't interest me, but film noir has. It's bleak, mysterious and stylized cinematography along with its enigmatic stars such as Bogart and Bacall (possibly the one of the most beautiful women in the world) and its intricate plotlines make for some of the most iconic and brilliant films of all time. My list has become extensive and out of this has grown a full blown obsession with the 1940's, its fashion and style, architecture and design ... I can't quite describe what it is that so captures me about the period but it just has.
Obsession is something that I tend to lean towards. I'm not a person that does things half heartedly, unfortunately however, it never tends to lend itself to my academic work. I wish I could apply half of the drive I have towards actually writing my dissertation. I'm in the midst of researching for it, and don't get me wrong my topic does interest me very much. Nixon's policy of achieving 'peace with honour' in Vietnam is a very interesting and engaging topic. I love being able to focus on the political history of one of the most interesting wars of the 20th century and perhaps my favourite US President of all time. However, I suppose this is the problem for a lot of people that the actual writing of a 12,000 word researched document is rather daunting and not as fun as the researching part. Alas I need to press on with it as it is due in after Christmas...
Another very daunting task looming large at the moment is; what to do after graduation? I really hate people asking me this question, because honestly I don't want to think about it. Again it's strange as I'm very much a organisational, planning freak, yet I don't seem to be able to apply this to my future career. It's possibly one of the most important things that I'll ever need to think about, but I just can't get my head around it. The fact that I have no idea where to start or what I want may not be helping. The actual thought of literally deciding what I'm going to do for the most part of my future life overwhelms me so much, that I just want to sit in a corner and cry. My aversion to change and the fact that I'd really love to be a forensic investigator, whilst having no qualifications what so ever to actually follow that up could also be an obstacle too... Oh well maybe I'll just be a hippy drifter instead...