Arts & Ammo

Smile When You Say That

Is this the kind of critical analysis they teach in acting school?

Rupert Everett, who is portraying actor Richard Burton, called military personnel “wimps,” saying:

In [Richard] Burton’s day they were itching to get into the fray. Now it is the opposite. They are always whining about the dangers of being killed. Oh my God, they are such wimps now! The whole point of being in the Army is wanting to get killed, wanting to test yourself to the limits. Now you have to fly 15,000ft above the war zone to avoid getting hit. I don’t think there is any point in having wars if that’s how you’re going to behave. It’s pathetic. All this whining!

The whole point of being in the Army is going to war and getting yourself blown up. That and p—ing on prisoners. Yet we all get shocked by Abu Ghraib.

Realizing some time later that these remarks might be seen as somewhat . . . uh, intemperate, Everett apologized and attempted to explain:

He explained he made his remarks to compare war now to war in Victorian times, saying: “I compared his longing to get into battle to the way we engage in war today. Then death was glorious. Today it is what it really is. Each and every death is a terrible tragic loss.”

He said: “To be a soldier one needs that special gene, that extra something, that enables a person to jump into one on one combat, something, after all, that is unimaginable to most of us, as we are simply not brave enough.”

The fact that Everett gave no apparent thought to voicing this foolishness in the press strongly suggests that those views pass for conventional wisdom in the crowd Everett hangs out with. It’s good that he apologized, but perhaps he should give his apology where it counts – at any NCO club, where I’m sure he will find a most receptive audience.

In many times and places, able-bodied men (presumably Everett is one) did not have the luxury of avoiding military service. In such times, those who served were not blessed with a special gene for bravery or motivated by a desire to be blown up. The most cursory reading of military history should convince anyone that wars are fought by ordinary men called on to do extraordinary things. Those who, for whatever reason, saw no combat generally had the good sense and humility not to impugn those who did.

Today, however, we are plagued with a smarmy class of poseurs who assume that wars can be avoided by getting the right kind of therapy for the brutal and insecure men who populate the ranks. This seems particularly ironic in the case of actors who perfect the art of looking tough in the face of imaginary dangers, who stand up to and defeat scores of enemy firing blanks, while simultaneously calling those who face real bullets “wimps.” As Everett himself said, “I have nothing to complain about . . . except maybe people wondering if a queen like me can butch-it-up enough to play a convincing straight man.”

Don’t strain yourself, Ev, but consider a few facts:

• The Eighth Air Force suffered the highest casualty rate of all Allied forces in WWII while routinely flying missions at 20,000 ft. (without pressurized cabins).
• The death of military personnel in past wars left widows and orphans who no doubt considered the event no less tragic than it is today.
• Richard Burton did not live in Victorian times.

June 10th, 2008 Posted by Fitzroy | Ammo, Film | no comments