War films do not motivate young men and boys to join the United States military. Yes, the films make the life of a soldier seem grand and glorious, as well as depict the soldiers as brave, honorable, and unbreakable, but if the media did not create movies in this way, no one would pay money to watch them in theaters or buy the DVDs. All movies – especially the war and military genre – have been enhanced with glamour to make them more entertaining. The media creates a false view of the military life. Recently, war movies such as Saving Private Ryan and Flags of Our Fathers , have strayed from glamorizing war and moved towards depicting the battles and fighting as realistically as possible, as well as not trying to depict the men as brave, invulnerable, and without fear. This unrealistic production of war and the military, as Anthony Swofford, a former Marine who fought in the first Gulf War, points out in his autobiography Jarhead, motivates men to join the military and gives them a reason to fight, yet so many other superceding factors go into the decision of enlisting into the military, becoming an officer after college, and choosing to fight, such as the rise of unemployment in the economy and the benefits given to soldiers; a national or international tragedy; forced enlistment into the armed forces; and personal reasons, such as traveling the world, the health of relatives, and the feeling of having no other way to contribute to society, therefore Swofford belief fails to be true.
Andrew Swofford, the author of Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles , wrote about his uneventful and quite short experience during the first Gulf War. Swofford fought in the first Gulf War as a Scout-Sniper with the United States Marine Corps Surveillance and Target Acquisition platoon of the 2nd Battalion 7th Marines. In an excerpt from the book, Swofford describes the days before his deployment to Iraq in 1990. He writes about how all of the men that will be deployed for the war watch all of the available films from and about the Vietnam War, in order to “prepare themselves” for battle (Swofford 7). Yet, Swofford himself has been poorly motivated as shown from his thoughts in the book, ” And as a young man raised on the films of the Vietnam War, I want ammunition and alcohol and dope, I want to screw some whores and kill some Iraqi motherfuckers,” (Swofford 7). Swofford succumbed to the media’s presentation of war – the glamor, the bravery, and the natural appeal to human instincts from the beginning of man. Men quickly find out, or should know from the beginning, that war does not consist only of screwing whores and killing the enemy. Those who go into the military simply to kill, often have psychological issues at hand. Yes, men fight in wars to kill and defeat the enemy and to achieve the goal or cause of starting the fight, but war should bring out camaraderie, patriotism, and a sense of duty in the soldiers.
The economy of the United States has not been as strong as Americans would like it, and with the unemployment rate quickly rising, the military has seen a steady surge of young men and women enlisting into the armed forces. In the current economy, jobs have been hard to come by for recent college graduates, high school graduates, and even for those laid off from their jobs. These men and women have on where else to turn to for employment, therefore joining the military has become their only option. The military always needs new recruits and soldiers and offers great benefits for those that join. More high school graduates turn to the military as a way into college. The economy has caused the price of education to increase, forcing high school graduates and college students to find alternative ways to pay tuition. The military will pay for four years of tuition along with books and room and board. The National Guard even pays for student loans that have been taken out before a new enlistee signs on the dotted line. With the National Guard, it gives recruits the option to do simultaneous membership, which allows members of the National Guard to both Army ROTC and be a part of the National Guard. By doing the simultaneous membership, members train and drill one weekend a month.
After both the attacks on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 and the attack on the World Trade Centers in New York City on September 11, 2001, the military saw a dramatic increase in the number of American citizens wishing to enlist into the military. Motivated by hate for the Japanese and the Taliban and grief, hundreds of young American men enlisted into the armed forces. Pat Tilman, an example of these young Americans, “gave up a big NFL contract to join the Army” after September 11, 2001 (Hampson). These men wanted revenge for the deaths of their loved ones, to punish those responsible for hurting our great country, and to kill them for killing innocent Americans. Often, young men and women join the military after a tragedy in order to do their part in preventing another such even from happening again. Going back to the American Revolution, in the movie The Patriot , Mel Gibson plays Benjamin Martin, an American soldier who fought in the French and Indian War, whose son Gabriel Martin – played by Heath Ledger – feels it to be part of his duty as a colonist to join the Continental Army and fight against the British to put an end to King George III’s rule of the American Colonies. Gabriel goes behind his father’s back and enlists into the Continental Army. He felt his father had cowardly and Loyalist-like feelings about the war. Gabriel acted out of patriotism and duty rather than because of how cool former soldiers had describes war to him.
Since the American Revolution, men have been drafted into the militias, Continental Army, Confederate and Union Armies, and the United States Military because of heavy losses suffered and the number of manpower in the military at the beginning of the war. The scale of both World War I and II made it necessary for every man possible to fight in the war. A draft forces men to become soldiers, and they do not have a choice unless they want to become fugitives and move to Canada by dodging the draft. For many, dodging the draft or not joining the military voluntarily dishonors the man’s family, name, and himself – at times not voluntarily joining the military and waiting for a draft could be just as dishonorable. Therefore, in order to keep all of his dignity and pride, he must join the military. The sons of former soldiers have a more difficult time with this than the sons of non-military families. Military sons must live up to their fathers’ military service in order to gain respect from their fathers. Some countries require their male citizens to serve in the national military if they want to continue to have citizenship in that country. Throughout history, soldiers and young men of conquered countries have been enslaved into the triumphant countries’ military service. Often times, men do not have a choice as to whether they will serve in the military or not, which confirms the theory that the portrayal of war does not always serve as the purpose for joining the military.
Men sometimes derive personal satisfaction from joining and fighting in the military. While being in the military requires soldiers to successfully pass combat training during basic training, not all jobs in the military require men to fight, but all military careers consist of a lot of traveling. Traveling, adventure, and boredom often serve the purpose for men to join. Without the military, some men may never have left their small country town. During the World Wars, a good portion of the soldiers drafted into the military consisted of small town farm boys who if lady luck looked their way, left their small towns once or twice. A couple of years ago, a story came out about a husband who joined the military in order to save his wife, who doctors diagnosed with cancer. Separated for two years during his tour in the Middle East, he joined the military because the health insurance companies in America would not cover her due to her cancer. The military’s health insurance gave his family health insurance and covered his wife. Young men, that have recently graduated high school who performed poorly in school and did not play sports, feel like they have nothing to give to society, so they join the military and fight for their country.
During World War II, reporters and soldiers filmed parts of the war for American citizens to watch back home. Reporters and soldiers filmed with the purpose of building up support for the war and negative feelings towards the Nazis and Adolf Hitler. The angle and filming tactics of the directors purposely attempt to spirit those watching into helping in the fight against the Germans to the best of their ability. Young boys and men would watch these films in the theaters and become excited about killing Nazis, stimulating them to join the war against them. In the film adaptation of the book My Dog Skip , the true story about Willie Morris and his dog Skip who grew up during World War II, several scenes from the movie take place in the local theater where Willie and his friends watch filmed battles and other events from the war. While watching the battles, the boys visibly become filled with awe about the battles and disdain for the Germans. In this instance, Andrew Swofford’s theory, as stated in an excerpt from his book Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles, ” Filmic images of death and carnage are pornography for the military man; with film you are stroking his cock, tickling his balls with the pink feather of history, getting him ready for his real First Fuck,” (Swofford 8), that war films stimulate young men and boys for the gung-ho, no soldier left behind, fight to the death mindset of war in a similar way that porn arouses sexual feelings in humans.
Men, and women, each have their own various motivations to join the military and to fight, and each motivation differs. Some join for the financial benefits such as money for college and the opportunity to get a job and get out of the unemployment status during a poor economy; while others join for personal reasons such as traveling, contributing to society, and helping loved ones. Other times, military service has been forced upon them because of enslavement, citizenship requirements, or a need for manpower in the military due to a major war. These reasons disagree with Anthony Swofford’s suggested reasons that he has expressed in his autobiography Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles. Swofford suggests that men join and fight in the military due to the motivation of the glamor, bravery, and poor portrayal of the military given to society by the media, as well as because of the arousing feeling men receive after killing the enemy in a battle. War films, such as Saving Private Ryan , The Patriot , and Flags of Our Fathers have many viewers amongst men and women, whom have the ability to participate in the military but choose not to join, therefore if Swofford’s theory held true,
the military would have plenty of soldiers at its disposal, rather than having a shortage of soldiers.
Hampson, Rick. “9/11 recruits: They enlisted when USA was under fire.” USAToday.com
Russell, Jay. “My Dog Skip”.
Swofford, Anthony. Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles. New York: Scribner, 2003.
Emmerich, Roland. “The Patriot”
