There was a fair amount in the various episodes which may not have been complimentary. At the same time, there is a lot that seems realistic and very supportive. Having been in the Army, any program or movie that is 100% complimentary is going to be B.S.
The substantive things were right on. Some were very accurate and made watching difficult at times. Wives cheating on their husbands who were off to war. People getting severely injured by IED's. I do not know how you could make a movie or series about the War in Iraq without addressing these issues. However, they don't dwell on these issues; there just part of the fabric of the war.
One of the episodes, the squad pulls road blockade duty. If you have read the book Generation Kill, it seems the episode was right out of the book. It basically showed how tough it is to be in that situation, and how American soldiers agonize over decisions that have to be made in a moment's notice to protect fellow soldiers and still accomplish the mission.
Included in the dvd set is special feature on the making of the series. One of the things they said was that the head of FX network wanted the show made and contacted Steve Bocho, (sp?) who did Hill Street Blues, to make it for him. So the head of the network wanted it, but maybe someone above him did not.
Even with a anemic cable network budget, they said everyone in town (Hollywood) wanted to be a part of this project. I thought that was very interesting. Why did they want to be a part of this?
I'm anxious to see the DVD sales. I mean in a market where video games like ghost recon, etc. do incredible numbers, Hollywood is in a slump. They have to realize that the public wants to see movies about the war in Iraq and Afganistan. We want to see the truth, which is at minimun is showing both sides. At least I do. And you know, a happy ending every once in a while wouldn't be so bad.
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