(no subject)
Nov. 17th, 2004 01:06 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
somedaybitch[oh for fuck's sake.]
a photographer snaps one of the single most compelling portrait pictures i've seen that isn't sensationalist and melodramatic, a picture of a soldier in a war zone, bone weary, face covered in a mix of filth and possibly blood, and all some people can seem to focus on is the fact that the guy has a cigarette in his mouth????? because it looks bad????? and might send the wrong message????? about smoking?????
one person actually wrote,
well yes, actually, it *is* about the marine. and i'm sorry but what looked "good" about that picture? the fact that the guy was still alive and could take some small measure of pleasure, or normalcy back into his life in the midst of the horror and chaos of war? would it have been an okay picture if the marine was lying on his back dead in the middle of a dirt road and the cigarette was in his mouth? would that have sent the "right" message for you?
they're supposed to think that war is fucked and there's nothing glamorous about it. they're supposed to think that in war people die, and in war people do a lot of things that they maybe wouldn't do under normal circumstances, good and bad. they're supposed to think that if this soldier is lucky, he'll live long enough to worry about whether smoking might actually kill him some day. jesus woman, stop letting the media parent your kids by default and fucking do it yourself.
yeah. me too. and i'll remember that he had the courage of his convictions to serve his country. and i'll remember that he's there helping an abused and victimized people take their lives and their country back, because no one has a corner market on the right to live free and without fear. and i'll remember that he has a family that loves him and misses him and may fear that when he comes home there will be those that will disrespect his sacrifice and his courage. i won't be one of them.
semper fi, corporal. come home safe.
eta: "For God’s sake, if Patton were alive today he’d be slapping civilians."
heh. Lileks is my hero.
a photographer snaps one of the single most compelling portrait pictures i've seen that isn't sensationalist and melodramatic, a picture of a soldier in a war zone, bone weary, face covered in a mix of filth and possibly blood, and all some people can seem to focus on is the fact that the guy has a cigarette in his mouth????? because it looks bad????? and might send the wrong message????? about smoking?????
one person actually wrote,
`I have one simple objection, and it's not about the Marine. You could have picked another photo that didn't show smoking as looking so good.''
well yes, actually, it *is* about the marine. and i'm sorry but what looked "good" about that picture? the fact that the guy was still alive and could take some small measure of pleasure, or normalcy back into his life in the midst of the horror and chaos of war? would it have been an okay picture if the marine was lying on his back dead in the middle of a dirt road and the cigarette was in his mouth? would that have sent the "right" message for you?
"But cigarettes need not be part of that real life, at least, for one reader who identified herself only as Elizabeth in her message. Her sons, like most teens, get a mixed message from the media, she said. Everywhere they hear that smoking harms your health. Then they see this photo. These soldiers are heroes to them,'' she said. ``What are they supposed to think?''
they're supposed to think that war is fucked and there's nothing glamorous about it. they're supposed to think that in war people die, and in war people do a lot of things that they maybe wouldn't do under normal circumstances, good and bad. they're supposed to think that if this soldier is lucky, he'll live long enough to worry about whether smoking might actually kill him some day. jesus woman, stop letting the media parent your kids by default and fucking do it yourself.
Perhaps they should look at the photo and consider these comments from reader Sieglinde Hays of Fairlawn.
``That Marine has been on my mind since I first saw his picture at 6:30 a.m. yesterday,'' she wrote in a Thursday e-mail. ``His image is haunting to me. I can see his face as I write to you. This year when I sit down to my Thanksgiving dinner, I will remember him when I thank God for what He blessed me with in 2004.
``I will remember that Marine is over there, far away from home, eating dinner -- if he is lucky -- with his comrades. I will remember those who did leave in a box or returned without a limb and pray that the Marine will not be among them.
``I will remember his eyes, brown and staring in the distance and wonder what he saw. I will thank the Lord that He saved me from not seeing people dying, like this Marine did.
``I will remember the blood and dirt on his face and be thankful I can go home and bathe, while he did not have the privilege. I will remember that this Marine looked tired and had to keep going, while I can go home and rest.''
yeah. me too. and i'll remember that he had the courage of his convictions to serve his country. and i'll remember that he's there helping an abused and victimized people take their lives and their country back, because no one has a corner market on the right to live free and without fear. and i'll remember that he has a family that loves him and misses him and may fear that when he comes home there will be those that will disrespect his sacrifice and his courage. i won't be one of them.
semper fi, corporal. come home safe.
eta: "For God’s sake, if Patton were alive today he’d be slapping civilians."
heh. Lileks is my hero.
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no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 10:44 am (UTC)I remember seeing that picture and feeling so bad for that marine. He looked so incredibly tired. I know a marine that served there and has since come back, (thank all the gods and goddesses) and a cigarette is a minor issue compared to a war, hello. The second lady said it just right. I don't want to know what he protected me from. I know he did it well, and I'm grateful that he did.
I really wish that even the dumbest of people would remember that humans are blessed with humanity, warts zits and all.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 03:39 pm (UTC)*stands up and applauds*
Can I add a "Fuck yeah!" and a "you tell'em"?
Pick "another photo that didn't show smoking looking so good"? Jesus wept, some people... you just want to shake 'em until a clue breaks loose somewhere in the deep depths of their brain.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 05:07 pm (UTC)He's smoking! Big friggin' deal! My mom smokes, my sister smokes, several of my cousins smoke, several of my aunts/uncles and twice removed relatives smoke. My uncle is in the Navy and was in Iraq and he smokes and was caught on film doing it. Does that make him any less a hero to the rest of the family? No. He's still the shithead -loveable shithead that is - he always was, and it's not because he smokes!
Gah! You know, I'm all for projecting a positive image for younger children - I refrain from swearing or drinking around little kids for example, especially when I am teaching - but I'm not their parent! The ruckous over airing Saving Private Ryan last week -- just don't watch it! You have the choice to turn off the tv and god forbid, read a book!
Like you said, wg, the media shouldn't be a parent to the nation's children.
no subject
Date: 2004-11-17 07:54 pm (UTC)these people are fucking mindless automatons and anytime they have to actually stop and make a bloody decision for themselves or their children, they're pissed about it.
in the link at the bottom of my rant above, Lileks goes off...and so amusingly, but he brings up a related point. he was wondering how the MSM would have covered WWII. and so do i. large portions of the public have NO IDEA what war involves because their spoonfeeders haven't told them, because their spoonfeeders are too busy making entertainment instead of reporting news. people are screaming that the US casualty rates in Iraq are too high. what would they have done after the invasion of Normandy? hell, what would they have done after Pearl Harbor? or how about the Civil War or the Revolutionary War? take all their toys and go home? right. bite me.
yes, this shit sucks. and yes, every death is fucking unbelievably tragic, but sometimes really big problems don't get solved any other way. why is it okay for the people of Iraq to get slaughtered by their own government? tortured to death for losing Olympic events, for christsake? because they're Iraqi and not American so who the fuck cares? it's not *my* problem? wrong. they're still human and no human should be treated that way.
er...yeah...ranted again. sorry. :D