Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!att!cbnews!military From: terryr@ogccse.ogc.edu (Terry Rooker) Newsgroups: sci.military Subject: Re: Recent films concerning the military Message-ID: <11922@cbnews.ATT.COM> Date: 4 Dec 89 01:42:37 GMT References: <11857@cbnews.ATT.COM> Sender: military@cbnews.ATT.COM Organization: Oregon Graduate Institute (formerly OGC), Beaverton, OR Lines: 46 Approved: military@att.att.com From: terryr@ogccse.ogc.edu (Terry Rooker) In article <11857@cbnews.ATT.COM> bobtl%toolbox.wv.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET writes: > > >From: bobtl%toolbox.wv.tek.com@RELAY.CS.NET > >This may not be appropriate, but I am interested in the psychology of >"warriors" (members of the armed services) and how the American public >views them. I think popular films are an expression of this. > >A local TV station showed two films on subsequent nights, "Top Gun" >and "Private Benjamin". I was struck by the way the two services are > If you look you will find many other expressions. In the mid 1970's I had only been at college for 2 weeks on an ROTC scholarship. I was asked why I wanted to be a baby killer. At that point I had atended 4 ROTC classes and 2 drills. My only possible answer was, I didn't know I hadn't tried it yet :-) Now as I see ads and commercials I see more military themes. They run the range from dogs marching around a track to a sailor returning home and going to McDonalds. (Ironically, most sailors I knew, if met by such an attractive person certainly wouldn't go out for a hamburger first thing) Positive movies, such as Top Gun and Private Banjamin are also indicative. This is an important consideration. It resides in the intangibles of the military. When the society you are sworn to protect is constantly dumping on you it causes problems. In the 1970's the all-volunterr military had problems meeting their recruiting quotas, much less getting high quality recruits. The obvious affect on military readiness should be obvious. The main affect is a loss of pride. Through the early 80's, many military personnel didn't want to wear uniforms off base. Flying home for christmas I was wearing a uniform. The lady beside me was very friendly until she askes me what I did. Once I told her, she gave me the cold shoulder (the navy has a uniform that is a black shirt, black tie, and black trousers. she din't know if I was in the military or if I was a priest :-). The affect of such loss of pride if those troops have to fight is unknown, but is something that must be considered. Terry Rooker terryr@cse.ogc.edu Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com