I've only watched 3 episodes so far but I came to it because it's written or directed by David Simon. I'm not sure how I feel about it so far, I've actually not seen a war film about Iraq like this. I mean, there's absolutely nothing valiant or anything about how grunts are depicted - in fact, a good portion of them are basically bloodthirsty psychopaths chomping at the bit to kill Iraqis. It is incredibly gruesome and bleak.
And yet, apparently this show best depicts what it was actually like to be there for the invasion.
I am curious as to how it was received or viewed by people who are non leftists though.
What do yall think of this show?
Okay so I just finished it and now going back and reading your comment it wasn't really a spoiler lol, but I just didn't know. That being said, I think the show could be interpreted a few ways. Of course, widespread warcrimes are inevitable when conducting an illegal, genocidal invasion of another sovereign country. Further, when a government infects their populace with racist propaganda before sending them off to invade a country, it's really just endorsement of widespread warcrimes.
Of course, there are true believers, maybe even half of them really believe that they are going there to help, but ultimately that doesn't Matter because it's clear that the marines exist first and foremost to serve marine leadership. Any kind of consideration towards the people they are ultimately brutalizing is a distant second thought, but even so, if you're an officer and do warcrimes it's actually rewarded. This is directly addressed in the show. Also in that scene where the journalist talks about how the WMD justification was bullshit, another marine turns to him and says:" who cares, we're here to kill" or something to that effect. That I think probably best sums up the mentality of the grunts.
Idk, I'm still taking in the show, it was very very good. Created what seemed like a very realistic atmosphere. Absolutely brutal though and fucking disgusting