Apostrophe S

The local couch-and-beer theatre, McMenamins, is showing “Jarhead” this week, so Michelle and I decided to splurge on the six bucks and catch a Friday night screening.

First of all, I should have seen the movie earlier, since I read the book earlier this fall in anticipation of the film’s release. I guess I just got busy doing other things.

But I’m glad I saw it. I’ll start with my biggest complaint. They had to leave out too much. If you’ve read the book, the film comes across as a quick skim of everything author Anthony Swofford had to say. But that’s not to say they got it wrong.

What I really came away from the book with was the fact that, while most people in the armed forces consider what they do “their job” and that they should keep their own politics out of it, Swofford really seemed to struggle maintaining that separation. Which, honestly, I hope is true of many more soldiers and Marines than would like to say. Because the military shouldn’t require you to surrender your humanity at the door. This theme doesn’t come out as much in the movie. Sure, the film’s Swoff expresses his regret for being dumb and signing a contract, but we lose the inner thoughts and convictions expressed in the text.

I was afraid it would come across as a pro-military movie based on the marketing campaign. The book is mostly neutral, although it describes in great detail what sucks about “The Suck.” Thankfully, Sam Mendes didn’t make it into a war movie. Instead, it’s about the frustration and futility felt by warriors in waiting, trained to a sharpened edge yet unable to use their training.

Although the military’s not for me, I do have a fascination with military history. And while I’m more-or-less a pacifist, I love reading and watching uncensored stories by those who were “there,” whether there is France, Vietnam or Iraq.

“Jarhead” is a faint reflection of its source material, but it is a fairly accurate reflection, so I think it works.