PAUL SCHIRALDI / HBO
In this week’s Time, I review HBO’s Iraq War miniseries Generation Kill, which debuts Sunday night. From what I’ve read so far elsewhere, is looks like the praise for the series will be effusive, and that praise will be justified:
Kill’s strength comes from focusing not on why we fight or how, but on who fights for us: volunteers, many from broken homes and troubled ‘hoods, who take being lied to as a given and were raised amid low expectations. “Not a whole lot was expected of this generation,” Wright says in his book, “other than the hope that those in it would squeak through high school without pulling too many more mass shootings in the manner of Columbine.” Suddenly they’re heavily armed, charged with executing U.S. foreign policy and expected to kick ass but stop short of atrocities.
They come from all races, religions and regions. Some support the war, some don’t. What they have in common besides their mission is that they are bred-in-the-bone products of American pop culture. They quote South Park while rolling through the blasted countryside. They sing along to Avril Lavigne, compare combat to Grand Theft Auto and recite N.W.A. lyrics for inspiration. One of them–in a twist on a famous theory of New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman’s–suggests American consumerism will pacify Iraq. “How else we going to make these hungry motherf___ers want to stop killing everybody? Put a McDonald’s on every f___ing corner. If we gotta blow up the corner, then put in the McDonald’s, so be it.”
I’m considering doing a Generation Kill Watch on Mondays over the summer, although I’ll be honest: the problem is that I’ve already watched the entire thing, and it’s always a little hard for me to muster up enthusiasm (and spare time) to re-watch and blog something I’ve already watched once, even a show I love. So I’ll post about it Monday and see what the level of morning-after enthusiasm is. In the meantime, what’s your Friday-before enthusiasm like?