came here to post this one. here’s another angle. i had a heart attack every time i pulled out to leave. theres not enough room to get out if anyone is trying to get in. the cross streets are so busy and theres a constant stream of pedestrians trying to not get hit by pissy drivers. insane design.

…anyway pretty good show lol

training broke them down and then put them back together as the perfect soldiers, then once they leave the war, their pack, their brothers, they are unfit for civilian life, incapable of being loving parents even to boys who see them as heroes. what comes at the expense of bonding through hardship?

on the other hand we see two ex military fathers who are if not physically and verbally abusive, are emotionally absent and cold, causing deep psychological distress in their sons, who have gone on to attempt to follow in their fathers’ footsteps and join the marines.

are the boys in Boots being prepared to be cannon fodder? absolutely. but going through the psychological meat grinder of boot camp is also the only way any of them are able to connect to each other and their sense of self. they have to love america or else they have no purpose.

it brought me back to The Long Walk, and what i see as a reflection of the male psyche that young men seek power and recognition in order to meet the real underlying desire of connection.

he has the chance to escape and live authentically as a gay man, but the marines is the first time he has ever felt valued, a part of a pack, seen as competent and strong. he chooses to stay in the closet (for now) and risk his life for a country that hates him.

spoilers here: cameron weighs the option of returning safely home without ever having to see combat, knowing he is capable of something no one thought he was. instead he chooses to stay, and then in the middle of celebration with his platoon, they realize they’re about to get shipped off to iraq.

what i most appreciated about the ending is that there was no right answer. maybe that’s because it’s based on a true story, idk i haven’t read the memoir it’s based on.

before i watched Boots, i was watching reality shows about athletes going through extreme tests of all kinds of strength and fortitude. theres a pleasure in watching humans survive hardship and come out changed for the better. watching the protag in Boots go through boot camp felt like this too.

im not sure there is anyway to tell a good, well written story about the us military and not accidentally serve as propaganda. we have been so brainwashed by pro war messages for decades that even showing realistic abuse and violence is still glamorized by an american audience as real strength.