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REALISTIC RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SOLDIERS

© John Lovett

I started to write this essay with a central idea that movie and TV rarely portray the relationships between soldiers (airmen, marines, sailors) realistically. As I wrote, the more I realized that movies rarely present anyone realistically. Obviously, the writers are writing fiction. Even so-called true stories are fictional to a lesser or a greater extent. I am not writing this essay about comedic series such as Sgt Bilko and MASH. I am writing this essay about serious minded movies that attempt to portray life as it really is.

So, I approached the problem thusly; how should soldiers be portrayed on screen? Keeping in mind that what you have is a fictional story. For a good example, I turn to the British TV series SHARPE. For those of you who do not know what I am writing about click on this site. http://web.idirect.com/~wkent/sharpe.htm...

While certain liberalities were taken with the intial story, GEN Wellington did not like his officers coming from the enlisted ranks, the rest of the stories flow and make sense. The relationships between Sharpe and his senior officers as well as between Sharpe and his soldiers are true to life for the early 19th Century. This shows in how well the stories move through their paces.

For a bad example, I can turn to anything done about the military by Oliver Stone. PLATOON or BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY might have been his idea on how the Vietnam War went, but it certainly was not the way most of the veterans I talked to viewed it. There are numerous other examples; APOCALYPSE NOW, RAMBO, and FULL METAL JACKET. I have to amend something; the Drill Sergeant played by R. Lee Ermey was played brilliantly. For TV, I pick JADG as the absolutely worst example of soldier relationships.

To work, relationships between enlisted soldiers and officers have to realistic. Even people who have never been in the military can spot the lack of realism. For example, John Wayne throwing one of his sloopy salutes to the looey with a cigarette hanging out of his right hand was not then and is not now realistic.

Colonel Blimp was a fictional character dreamed up by Punch Magazine in the UK in the 19th Century. He epitomized what the British saw of a pompous non-leader in the peace filled days prior to World War I. He was overbearing, not very bright; and having gained his position by purchase rather than advancement, more conscious of status than of duty.

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