How hollywood portrays vets...it matters...

[billc]

I have mentioned this phenomena before...hollywood shows more often than not, in fact almost always, soldiers as crazy, victims or criminals...and the constant reinforcement through the entertainment media does have an impact...

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2013/07/25/vet-torches-hollywood-bashing-veterans

But the inverse is true for veteran characters who have left the military, most of whom tend to exhibit the most extreme cases of post-traumatic stress. John Rambo rampaged through a sleepy Oregon town, and Red Forman [from That '70s Show], back from the Korean War, left a devastating wake of violence and abuse. Driven by their demons and guilt, war veterans onscreen are invariably unstable, violent and sullen.


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Those images matter, especially when veterans try to find employment after coming back home.

Last year, the Center for a New American Security surveyed 69 companies on why (or why not) they hire veterans. Not surprisingly, more than half said negative stereotypes gleaned from media and popular culture made them wary of bringing veterans aboard....
War veterans are home, and we don’t want to kill you. Please let Hollywood know.


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A look at the movie that began this conversation...and more points about vets and the movies...

http://filmdrunk.uproxx.com/2013/07/black-rock-veteran-portrayals-not-here-to-kill-you

Now, I don’t think Aselton and Duplass made their villains crazy veterans out of malice or hatred of ‘Muricuh or anything like that. To her credit, Aselton ensures they are labeled as dishonorably discharged in the script and in interviews. But that detail is lost in many reviews, like Roeper’s for instance, in which he simply describes them as “recently discharged” after combat. I really don’t think most civilians know the difference between honorable and dishonorable discharges other than the wording, so for a good deal of people, they’re just war veterans.
The real culprit here is artistic laziness and social disconnection (a more original take could’ve been George Washington: Coed Hunter). The unstable veteran archetype has become expository shorthand for characters with a blend of weapons training and unsettling trauma that, according to Aselton, is a recipe for “a very real threat.”
In reality, there is no link between combat trauma and murder, yet we nod along because the inevitable result of combat trauma is a horde of war veterans raping and pillaging across America.
As the women in the film awake after being knocked unconscious, Alex and Will frantically discuss their predicament. In dialogue that might have been outsourced to a coked out Tarantino, Will shouts, “Part of me wants to do this **** just *****ing haji style bro, just saw their *****ing heads off!”
The implication? Will, suffering the trauma of seeing his best friend killed, has cognitively disassociated himself and is back in combat, his eyes gleaming with potential for gory revenge.

I don’t know why the antagonists in Black Rock are war veterans beyond serving as dramatic accelerants for a girl-power comeuppance fantasy. Aselton and Duplass seem just as clueless. Nothing interesting or unexpected happens as a result of their backgrounds. It just simply leaves room for ugly and damaging stereotypes to stretch into yet another decade, long after Vietnam veterans were first tarred and feathered in cheap pop culture portrayals. My generation of veterans are now treated to the same reductive smearing.
Countless men and women who have returned from America’s wars have succeeded because of their service, not in spite of it. Our middle class exists largely because of veterans of World War II, and folks returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have filled gaps in communities here at home. They rebuild neighborhoods and provide essential disaster relief, most notably after Hurricane Sandy and the tornadoes in Moore, Oklahoma.

 

[arnisador]

Now let's talk about how they portray women...

 

[shihansmurf]

and minorities, science, geography, religion, etc.....

Trusting a Hollywood version of anything for any reason beyond being entertained for a bit is going to leave one disappointed. That is the problem, I think. We ascribe to much to the entertainment industry. We lend actors, athletes, and musicians to much gravitas. They are not world leaders, scientists, doctors, and the like. They are merely court jesters. Perhaps if we accorded them that amount of importance than we wouldn't be so concerned with their portrayals of things.

Just a thought,
Mark

 

[billc]

The movie based on the actual story of Lone Survivor is coming out...will hollywood do it justice? Will it be a good movie about our American soldiers and sailors fighting the taliban in Afghanistan...and will this effect how the movie is recieved by critics?

The trailer in the link looks very good...

http://screenrant.com/lone-survivor-movie-2013-trailer-mark-wahlberg/