Yawn. Give me a break. I’m a former Marine, just finished watching the first episode. I’m also very politically conservative, and I’m sorry but I saw a pretty accurate portrayal of Marines in the field. Homophobic? Uhhhh, YEAH. Profane? YEAH. Racist banter? Sure happens. HBO focussed on how Marines relieved their sexual frustrations and their body functions? When you’re filthy and sharing close quarters in those conditions, uhhhh, masturbation is a running joke, it’s not hidden, and sex is a CONSTANT topic of conversation. In very graphic detail. And if you get a few beers into a grunt, some of the funniest anecdotes you’ll get out of him will involve trying to take a dump under fire. Or when he got caught with his pants down when the gas alert was sounded. The Marine saying the 4th grader was “hot”? Uhhhh these are Marines. Rude, crude, socially unacceptable in the best of circumstances. These guys have been in the desert for months, preparing to kill or be killed. They aren’t going to be politically correct. Much of the humor is black, and quite frankly, civilians won’t “get it”. Obviously many didn’t. “Anti-Invasion”? Cpl Person delivers quite the excellent verbal reply to the peacenik’s letter, and he sums up the attitudes of many Marines. What do you want from these guys, political commentary a la Rush Limbaugh? They’re out in the field doing what Marines do–they’ve been ordered to take out the trash. How many garbagemen spend hours debating the pros and cons of their jobs? There are a number of Marines on the set who were THERE, and in the interviews I’ve seen of them, they have no issue with the mini series. This is one former Marine who’s thoroughly enjoying a fairly realistic depiction of how the grunts do their biz.
