(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.
