Militarism in Popular Culture
A funny thing has happened on the way to the future it has become thoroughly militarized at least in the vision of it offered by American television producers.
Case in point the two versions of the classic space opera “Battlestar: Galactica” a series about a space-going aircraft carrier. Despite its name the original “Battlestar” was thoroughly unmilitary in its style and trappings. The giant spaceship was more like a lounge than a warship filled with comfortable chairs and spacious apartments. The ship’s crew wore comfortable pajama like clothes and didn’t salute and discipline was almost nonexistent. The captain, Commander Adama, was a kindly father figure played by Loren Green of “Bonanza” fame. Everybody was laid back and relaxed even though they were in a life and death situation. The only people in the 1970s version of Galactica who had anything like a military bearing were the bad guys the Cylons swaggering robotic killing machines and the fascist Eastern Alliance.
The new Battlestar which has been on since 2004 is an almost complete contrast. The new Galactica is a gloomy, cramped mess of corridors and industrial equipment reminiscent of a sea-going warship. The crew members wear uniforms similar to US military fatigues, and Marines clomp around in full battle armor. Soldiers salute and military discipline is harsh. The second in command is proud of the fact that the crew hates him, the commander is an all powerful figure who is practically worshipped by his men.
In contrast to the crew of the Battlestar Galactica, the revamped Cylons are funky, organic and casual like 1970s science fiction heroes. The Cylons fly around in living ships that look like something out of a 1970s TV show. The Cylon leaders unlike the Galacticans are all blatantly civilian.
“Battlestar Galactica” is perhaps the most blatant example of the militarization of American popular culture but hardly the only one. Galactica and its competitor, Stargate, are examples of military science fiction, a sub genre of SF once confined to paperback novels but now the mainstream. The new Galactica seems to have vanquished the blatantly anti-military Star Trek to become the gold standard of American science fiction TV. American popular culture with science fiction as its cutting edge has become thoroughly militarized a far cry from the status quo just 25 years ago.
Back when I was a kid in the 1970s and 80s when a military man with short cropped hair and a pressed uniform popped up on the screen you knew he was the bad guy. Whether it was a Star Wars movie, Indiana Jones or a TV show like MASH or the A-Team you knew the military establishment was the enemy. Even in blatantly military entertainments like Rambo (and remember Rambo was more like the military equivalent of a hippy than a good soldier he had long hair and wore no shirt) and the GI Joe comic books the funky unmilitary everyman was the hero. The guy in the uniform was a stiff shirt and the enemy. The ultimate example of this was the classic TV show “The A-Team” where heroic soldiers who fought for freedom and good were pursued by a ruthless by the book disciplinarian officer.
Now flash forward to the year 2007 and see how things have changed. The only TV show that regularly focuses on military matters is “The Unit” produced oddly enough by avant-garde film director David Mamet (who ten years ago produced the anti military film “Wag the Dog”). “The Unit” focuses on a group of ruthless by the book special forces soldiers who will do whatever it takes to defend the United States including kidnapping a US Senator. The US soldiers on the Unit are always heroic, and the horrible things they do are always necessary for America’s defense.
“The Unit” is only one example of this mentality, a far more popular one is the video game “Halo” where the hero is a ruthless armored soldier of an interstellar empire. In other words, an Imperial storm trooper, a Star Wars bad guy. Halo is perhaps as popular as Star Wars in our popular culture I see it on pop bottles and paperback novels.
So how did our culture get this militarized? That’s hard to say especially since the vast majority of Americans have little or no contact with the military and only a tiny minority actually serve in it. Part of it maybe guilt older Americans feel guilty because they think they betrayed our troops in Vietnam (notice they’ll never admit this publicly anymore than Neocons will admit they are wrong about Iraq but they think it none the less) by opposing that war or dodging the draft. Younger Americans well they feel they should be over there in Iraq but the Army doesn’t pay enough. The American whether he be a software designer bringing down a half million dollars a year or a guy driving the forklift for thirty thousand bucks a year feels guilty that some poor kid from the trailer park is taking a bullet for him in the Middle East so he wants to show his support.
Then there is insecurity, until Sept. 11, 2001, we Americans whether we were leftist college professors or beer guzzling construction workers thought we were invulnerable. The bad guys would never get over here and kill our people. Hollywood producers could afford to portray military men as Nazis and country club types could bad mouth professional soldiers. They were an anachronism we didn’t need any more. Well the bad guys were smarter than we thought they got over here and killed our people on American soil. Even peace protestors are paying their respects to our men and women in uniform.
Suddenly we Americans are insecure again and no matter what our political beliefs we might need the military again. We might need the men and women in uniform to kill the guys with the funny accents so they don’t come over here and kill our families. So like our grandparents in World War II we like the military again. Today’s bad guys aren’t the Russians, they actually want to fight and kill. So we need to fight them and more importantly kill them, so we need somebody to do the fighting for us, so we need the military and we respect them again.
So I wonder will in thirty years some producer make an unmilitary “Battlestar Galactica” to reflect a more secure era? I hope the answer will be yes.
Case in point the two versions of the classic space opera “Battlestar: Galactica” a series about a space-going aircraft carrier. Despite its name the original “Battlestar” was thoroughly unmilitary in its style and trappings. The giant spaceship was more like a lounge than a warship filled with comfortable chairs and spacious apartments. The ship’s crew wore comfortable pajama like clothes and didn’t salute and discipline was almost nonexistent. The captain, Commander Adama, was a kindly father figure played by Loren Green of “Bonanza” fame. Everybody was laid back and relaxed even though they were in a life and death situation. The only people in the 1970s version of Galactica who had anything like a military bearing were the bad guys the Cylons swaggering robotic killing machines and the fascist Eastern Alliance.
The new Battlestar which has been on since 2004 is an almost complete contrast. The new Galactica is a gloomy, cramped mess of corridors and industrial equipment reminiscent of a sea-going warship. The crew members wear uniforms similar to US military fatigues, and Marines clomp around in full battle armor. Soldiers salute and military discipline is harsh. The second in command is proud of the fact that the crew hates him, the commander is an all powerful figure who is practically worshipped by his men.
In contrast to the crew of the Battlestar Galactica, the revamped Cylons are funky, organic and casual like 1970s science fiction heroes. The Cylons fly around in living ships that look like something out of a 1970s TV show. The Cylon leaders unlike the Galacticans are all blatantly civilian.
“Battlestar Galactica” is perhaps the most blatant example of the militarization of American popular culture but hardly the only one. Galactica and its competitor, Stargate, are examples of military science fiction, a sub genre of SF once confined to paperback novels but now the mainstream. The new Galactica seems to have vanquished the blatantly anti-military Star Trek to become the gold standard of American science fiction TV. American popular culture with science fiction as its cutting edge has become thoroughly militarized a far cry from the status quo just 25 years ago.
Back when I was a kid in the 1970s and 80s when a military man with short cropped hair and a pressed uniform popped up on the screen you knew he was the bad guy. Whether it was a Star Wars movie, Indiana Jones or a TV show like MASH or the A-Team you knew the military establishment was the enemy. Even in blatantly military entertainments like Rambo (and remember Rambo was more like the military equivalent of a hippy than a good soldier he had long hair and wore no shirt) and the GI Joe comic books the funky unmilitary everyman was the hero. The guy in the uniform was a stiff shirt and the enemy. The ultimate example of this was the classic TV show “The A-Team” where heroic soldiers who fought for freedom and good were pursued by a ruthless by the book disciplinarian officer.
Now flash forward to the year 2007 and see how things have changed. The only TV show that regularly focuses on military matters is “The Unit” produced oddly enough by avant-garde film director David Mamet (who ten years ago produced the anti military film “Wag the Dog”). “The Unit” focuses on a group of ruthless by the book special forces soldiers who will do whatever it takes to defend the United States including kidnapping a US Senator. The US soldiers on the Unit are always heroic, and the horrible things they do are always necessary for America’s defense.
“The Unit” is only one example of this mentality, a far more popular one is the video game “Halo” where the hero is a ruthless armored soldier of an interstellar empire. In other words, an Imperial storm trooper, a Star Wars bad guy. Halo is perhaps as popular as Star Wars in our popular culture I see it on pop bottles and paperback novels.
So how did our culture get this militarized? That’s hard to say especially since the vast majority of Americans have little or no contact with the military and only a tiny minority actually serve in it. Part of it maybe guilt older Americans feel guilty because they think they betrayed our troops in Vietnam (notice they’ll never admit this publicly anymore than Neocons will admit they are wrong about Iraq but they think it none the less) by opposing that war or dodging the draft. Younger Americans well they feel they should be over there in Iraq but the Army doesn’t pay enough. The American whether he be a software designer bringing down a half million dollars a year or a guy driving the forklift for thirty thousand bucks a year feels guilty that some poor kid from the trailer park is taking a bullet for him in the Middle East so he wants to show his support.
Then there is insecurity, until Sept. 11, 2001, we Americans whether we were leftist college professors or beer guzzling construction workers thought we were invulnerable. The bad guys would never get over here and kill our people. Hollywood producers could afford to portray military men as Nazis and country club types could bad mouth professional soldiers. They were an anachronism we didn’t need any more. Well the bad guys were smarter than we thought they got over here and killed our people on American soil. Even peace protestors are paying their respects to our men and women in uniform.
Suddenly we Americans are insecure again and no matter what our political beliefs we might need the military again. We might need the men and women in uniform to kill the guys with the funny accents so they don’t come over here and kill our families. So like our grandparents in World War II we like the military again. Today’s bad guys aren’t the Russians, they actually want to fight and kill. So we need to fight them and more importantly kill them, so we need somebody to do the fighting for us, so we need the military and we respect them again.
So I wonder will in thirty years some producer make an unmilitary “Battlestar Galactica” to reflect a more secure era? I hope the answer will be yes.
posted by great one at 9:34 PM
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