I have written before peripherally about this subject. (See http://suite101.com/article.cfm/military... Hollywood and Those "Special" Guys (and Gals)). Hollywood tends to pick up on the easiest, lowest, most common denominator. As most episodic television is written on a weekly, if not daily, basis, then the symbology presented to the viewers tends to be easiest for the writer to write and the viewer to digest. The current cut of the yarn spinners' clothe is that of the government as conspiratorial and evil.
Please read my words carefully. I am not saying that members of the U. S. Government are not without culpability, stupidity, arrogance, and down - right mean spiritedness. In my earliest career as a young Army Security Agency translator, I got to "work" with members of the CIA. What I got to experience was a group of suits telling us "grunts" how the world really is and we did not know what we were talking about in our briefings. Over all, the experience did not lead me in thinking well of the CIA. By the way, when I left the ASA I received in the mail an application to the "Company." It promptly went into the round file.
But, back to Hollywood. There has always been a love/hate relationship between the the movies and the military. During WWII, the movies were mostly patriotic pablum. During and post-Vietnam, the movies were all anti-this or that. Only recently with SAVING PRIVATE RYAN and THE THIN RED LINE has there been a return to a more realistic vision of the military.
However, as one comes forward in history one finds that the story telling of the actions of the military are portrayed as cynical, almost evil, in their overtures. This phenomena was seen as early as the mid-1960's with movies such as SEVEN DAYS IN MAY and DOCTOR STRANGELOVE. This phenomena has been reaching its crescendo with today's depiction of every military operation as being secret using only those "special" guys.
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