The Marine Corps is Evil! Just ask Sam Mendes...

Rating: 1/10 (25 October 2005)

I work in show business on a popular network television show. I graduated from Marine Officer Candidate School in 2001. My best friend recently finished his service in the USMC. My father fought in World War II as a Marine. The Marine Corps is an often regaled, highly respected institution in this country for good cause. However, if my only experience with the Corps was through this movie-- as it will be for countless thousands of people in countries across Europe, the Middle East and Asia-- my sympathy for the terrorists in Iraq and around the world would swell. This is a propaganda film, pure and simple. Jarhead adopts a point of view based on the failure of one Marine and applies it universally to the entire organization. I have experienced the military for myself and the idiocy of the actions undertaken by the Marines from the protagonist's point of view are at best extreme exaggerations and at worst outright lies. Jake Gyllenhaal portrays PFC Tony Swofford, author of the book upon which Jarhead is based. The Marine Corps that "Swoff" is a part of is so vilified that his own outlandish reactions to stress seem mere trifles in comparison. But the truth of the matter is that PFC Swofford was clearly not a remarkable Marine. In fact, he was wholly unremarkable. And with a penchant for writing and a few well connected friends, Anthony Swofford's inferiority inspired a 65 million dollar propaganda movie that has the potential to tarnish the wartime reputation of our troops based on a series of mistruths and exaggerations. Swofford was a screw-up-- a trait that is celebrated in this movie when it should be chided. Jarhead hearkens back to the propaganda of World War II, where the Japanese were depicted as inhuman monsters on our posters and Charlie Chaplin bumbled around the screen as the Great Dicatator. The difference of course is that our Marines are the inhuman monsters and instead of Charlie Chaplin presenting a caricature of Hitler, Chris Cooper fills in with a Marine Lieutenant Colonel. Dissenting should be encouraged; and God bless those with the courage to lobby for policy with honesty and integrity. A line of morality is crossed, however, when the Sam Mendes'and the Michael Moore's of society use their influence and wealth to influence millions of people across the world by presenting fiction as fact. This movie is insulting, shameful and enraging. Its November release suggests it will be vying for Oscar nominations. It will damage the image of our troops, it will encourage acts of terrorism against them and any accolades it receives will only validate such damages. If you choose to see this movie, I strongly encourage you to find a Marine and talk to them about the Corps afterward. I also encourage a fiscal boycott of the film; if you are able to attend free or advanced screenings, then power to you. However, if you pay ten dollars to see it, whether you love or hate it, the film's profit margin will increase and the people responsible for the dishonest portrayal within will continue to make copious amounts of money for propagation of untruths.