Jarhead - Both a Term for the Movie and the Idiots leaving the theater

Went with Steve to see Jarhead last night. After a lot of hype of personal anticipation to see what I thought would be a platoon and full metal jacket medly of Operation Desert Storm I was oddly pleased by what turned out to be a much different movie than I thought.

The film basically follows a regiment of scout-sniper marines who were trained for combat as the Iraqi/Kuwait conflict first spawned 12 so odd years ago. The scout-sniper aspect is actually incredibly important to how this film is framed, and I intend this post as trailer clarity moreso than movie spoiler.

Scout Snipers have a historically unique and valued role in the military. I stress historically for the first Iraq war was the first global battle fought by a dominant technological presence moreso than on the ground soldier versus soldier battles. I can remember watching the news in the early nineties and all the attacks being documented as air strikes; scud missiles versus the american airforce. The role of the scout sniper did not fit into the first Desert Storm and many soldiers, who were sent as a public relations for freedom campaign for pappa Bush in truth just scaring off would be Saudi Oil insurgents.

Jarhead is a case study for an oversaturated military ground force who went to Iraq to sit and wait for the war to be over. The film follows the slow and emotional downfall of soldiers who were sent to Iraq thinking they were to be a part of a World War III only to sit and watch as pilots flew overhead and beat down the middle east. Jarhead is an excellent representation of the difference between modern military and the myth that lies with being a soldier. The film dips heavily on the theme of the loss of agency in the American war machine, as soldiers who were part of Operation Desert Shield sat in the desert while the lives they knew back home crumble at no fault of their own.

Jarhead is not a war movie for those who like the blow em up, watch em die war flicks like Tears of the Sun, and Platoon. This is a mental mind twist that somehow can be both an advertisement for the novelty of becoming a marine, while also being an incredible critique of the veil that the American Administration has put on its people to what role is actually available to preserve the ideals of a country, and what roles are available simply to further military contracts while keeping the tradition of being a soldier alive in a modern technologically driven battlefield.

So much so is this movie towing the line between propaganda and dissent, that as I walked out of the theater cringing at how any individual can be so numb to be personally driven by becoming a modern soldier, behind me walked three "think Im an anarchist, love the Daily Show" kind of posers that couldnt help verbalizing their hate for the movie thinking it was a 2 hour commercial for how great the military is.

Did they even watch the film, because they certainly didnt get the gist. Personally, Im not one to say propaganda is driven out of a film which examines the mind meltout of 20 year old American boys who were, and this is a film quote, "Dumb enough to sign a contract", and forced to watch their lives crumble sitting in burning oilfields with all the novelty of being a trained killer exhausted by bombs and gasses from days prior.
Voices of Dissent can be so stupid sometimes.

posted by mr. tomas ubik @ Thursday, November 10, 2005