Tuesday, July 26, 2005

'Over There,' way out there


The ridiculous supposedly "apolitical" show "Over There" about fighting in Iraq, has had plenty of critics (along with the producers) saying it is gut-wrenching and "true to life." The very fact that a critic who has never been to Iraq as a soldier would make this assessment is laughable. Unfortunately, the series seems to be anything but in it's assumptions and errors. To a liberal, "apolitical" just means they act out what they "know" is the truth.

Photo: Gilbert W. Arias/Seattle Post-Intelligencer
"In a preview of "Over There" at Camp Murray in Tacoma, 1st Lt. Eva Sovelenko reacts to a scene as Sgt. John Figueroa looks on."

But one reporter at the Seattle P.I. seemed to be just as suspicious and did what should have been done all along: asked the soldiers what they thought (what a concept!).

M.L. Lyke of the PI spent time with soldiers at Camp Murry (national guard base near Tacoma) as they previewed the first installment of "Over There." Their responses were stunning!



A truck tire hits a flagged wire, a roadside bomb explodes, a handsome private with shredded leg screams in agony. In the bloody chaos of the moment, his soldier buddies panic. One pukes...

..."People don't act like that when an i.e.d. (improvised explosive device) goes off. They make us look like idiots. We're not idiots!" said a first lieutenant previewing "Over There," the new TV series from Steven Bochco ("NYPD Blue," "Hill Street Blues") that debuts tomorrow night on FX cable network. It's set in Iraq, hyped as "true to life" by producers and hailed by critics as "unflinching" and "gut-wrenching."

"Bogus" was the preferred adjective among the eight soldiers -- most of them Iraq vets -- viewing the series pilot last week at Camp Murray...

Making American soldiers out to be (what amounts to) idiots is a favorite pastime of the left. They just can't imagine a 17-year-old American "boy" taking on all that responsibility and keeping his nerve. They are instead painted as desperate kids who signed up to escape a slum or get their education paid for. Nobody signs up because they want to serve unless they are some privileged brat with a senator for a dad. This calls for another story—lets have a reporter hang out at a recruiting office and ask any random recruit why he is joining.

To bring this home, one good friend who I sang with in high school choir went to Iraq (is still there) without his driver’s license. Being a gunner, he has since had to watch one of his buddies burn to death in one attack while remaining calm in order to cover his evacuation... Did someone say something about panic? This is someone younger than me, who hasn't even taken a civilian drivers test and he has already dealt with more than others can imagine...and overcome it.

To be honest, I'm worried about the damage this series will do to the perception of our military. It's not that the public would get hostile to the military as a result, but it still fosters a stark fatalism that is greatly at odds with the spirit of our military personnel.

For me, I can already safely assume I won't be watching it, not having any access to it in the first place--but a bunch of good people like yourselves will also help out and keep those ratings low right?
<< Home 6 Comments:
Blogger Gloria said...

This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

9:38 PM, July 27, 2005  
Blogger Gloria said...

How could some one show a show such as that? This just make me angry so I can't comment further at this time.

9:40 PM, July 27, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those kids are working their butts off in Iraq and we decide to try to portray what they're going through? It's understandable, but wrong on too many levels to count

10:33 PM, July 27, 2005  
Blogger Gloria said...

Very well said Kat.

7:51 PM, July 30, 2005  
Blogger Mark said...

To the choir perhaps...but that's the beauty of the internet--often there are eavesdroppers.

12:11 AM, July 31, 2005  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Excellent, that was really well explained and helpful

11:48 AM, December 22, 2005  

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