4 ms·

I still remember the pictures of real war injuries they showed to us during a first aid course at military. Such pictures should be shown way more. People have

I still remember the pictures of real war injuries they showed to us during a first aid course at military. Such pictures should be shown way more. People have a way too clean conception of war, probably because of movies. It's dirty business with horrific consequences.

vasco 4y ago
Many Hollywood movies depicting war or any military related things have the sponsorship (or are co-scripted) of the DoD, mostly as a recruitment tactic, the same way they pay for the anthem to be played at NFL games. How else can you get a bunch of kids to have as a life long dream to kill and be killed? You make it look cool and glamorous and hide the nasty bits. If war movies were real they'd all end up with your team half dead in combat and the other half committing suicide back at home from the PTSD. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93entertainment_complex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93entertainment...
- 8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago
  if you self funded such a movie, would you be allowed to publish it?
  - krastanov 4y ago
    Of course you would be allowed to (self) publish it, first amendment and so on. Whether you would be vilified by jingoists and/or glorified by anti-war activists is a separate question.
- kwhitefoot 4y ago
  > DoD, ... they pay for the anthem to be played at NFL games. What? And that is not controversial?
  - devilbunny 4y ago
    I had never considered that the DoD might pay for playing the national anthem at NFL games (playing the anthem is a staple of high school games, and I know my school didn't get any DoD funding), and after a quick search it appears that what they pay for is things like flyovers, having service members hold out a large flag on the field, buying them tickets to the game afterward (where they can be seen in uniform in the stands), etc. It's marketing. And the number bandied about in the first few links was something like $5.5 million over three years. Not a huge amount of money.
- mattbrewsbytes 4y ago
  I think kids are recruited because they are disadvantaged in some way - economically, academically, etc. and are presented with a notion that the military is their only option to "escape". I don't think kids dream of killing because they see movies, I think they dream of the camaraderie, wanting to look like & talk like those they see in the movies and to fight against bad forces in the world. Only 10% of the military people actually engage in combat [0] (was a stat from when the US had troops in Afghanistan). If the trades advertised as much as the military there wouldn't be shortages of electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, etc. Some of those careers are just as highly technical as programming and might pay just as much (sans stock options). Hollywood doesn't make movies about plumbers though. [0] https://www.thesoldiersproject.org/what-percentage-of-the-military-sees-combat/ https://www.thesoldiersproject.org/what-percentage-of-the-mi...
  - janef0421 4y ago
    That's the motivation to join the military, but people would be less willing to join and more interested in alternatives if the reality of war wasn't obscured by mass-media depictions.

vasco 4y ago

Many Hollywood movies depicting war or any military related things have the sponsorship (or are co-scripted) of the DoD, mostly as a recruitment tactic, the same way they pay for the anthem to be played at NFL games. How else can you get a bunch of kids to have as a life long dream to kill and be killed? You make it look cool and glamorous and hide the nasty bits. If war movies were real they'd all end up with your team half dead in combat and the other half committing suicide back at home from the PTSD. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93entertainment_complex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military%E2%80%93entertainment...

8n4vidtmkvmk 4y ago
if you self funded such a movie, would you be allowed to publish it?
- krastanov 4y ago
  Of course you would be allowed to (self) publish it, first amendment and so on. Whether you would be vilified by jingoists and/or glorified by anti-war activists is a separate question.
kwhitefoot 4y ago
> DoD, ... they pay for the anthem to be played at NFL games. What? And that is not controversial?
- devilbunny 4y ago
  I had never considered that the DoD might pay for playing the national anthem at NFL games (playing the anthem is a staple of high school games, and I know my school didn't get any DoD funding), and after a quick search it appears that what they pay for is things like flyovers, having service members hold out a large flag on the field, buying them tickets to the game afterward (where they can be seen in uniform in the stands), etc. It's marketing. And the number bandied about in the first few links was something like $5.5 million over three years. Not a huge amount of money.
mattbrewsbytes 4y ago
I think kids are recruited because they are disadvantaged in some way - economically, academically, etc. and are presented with a notion that the military is their only option to "escape". I don't think kids dream of killing because they see movies, I think they dream of the camaraderie, wanting to look like & talk like those they see in the movies and to fight against bad forces in the world. Only 10% of the military people actually engage in combat [0] (was a stat from when the US had troops in Afghanistan). If the trades advertised as much as the military there wouldn't be shortages of electricians, plumbers, HVAC technicians, etc. Some of those careers are just as highly technical as programming and might pay just as much (sans stock options). Hollywood doesn't make movies about plumbers though. [0] https://www.thesoldiersproject.org/what-percentage-of-the-military-sees-combat/ https://www.thesoldiersproject.org/what-percentage-of-the-mi...
- janef0421 4y ago
  That's the motivation to join the military, but people would be less willing to join and more interested in alternatives if the reality of war wasn't obscured by mass-media depictions.