"Over There"

     Yesterday I received a care package with DVDs of the FX show “Over There”, a series loosely based on the experiences of soldiers here in Iraq.  As the day wound down my XO and 2LT Lucky drifted over to my room, both eager to watch this new series and how they depicted life here in Iraq.  We sat down and spent the next hour in utter and complete awe.  It was the most riveting hour of television I have ever seen, and by the end of the show I had tears in my eyes.     

     They were tears of laughter.     

     I don’t have the words to express how tragically flawed the show really is.  There are bad shows, and there are terrible shows.  There are even shows so singularly awful they come full circle and almost seem interesting.  This show is much, much worse then even those campy train wrecks.  The episode was so abominable that I couldn’t even get angry at it’s hollow depictions of combat, all I could do was laugh until my sides ached.     

     My unit has spent the better part of a year here in Iraq attached to the 3rd Infantry Division (the unit highlighted in the show) and there wasn’t a single scene that seemed even remotely plausible.  I don’t have the time or energy to express what a catastrophe the show really is, that would take days upon days.  But I will say that the show did an excellent job of showing the audience one thing.  That Hollywood has no clue what our experience on the ground is really like. 

Comments

[shauni]

I think you guys are just crazy. I extremly loved over there.The first time i saw it i wanted to watch more.unfortantly they played an hour of it (really sucks and now it does not play anymore!!).It gives me a good perspective of whats going on in iraq!!!

[Lindyy]

I am sick to death of all the press making the US service personel look like a bunch of criminals every day...No mention of what the soldiers go through, the truth about sucides, awols and injuries and deaths..Has the Us press no pride???Or are they communists?

[radtec]

I sure hope you and many of your buds/budette's will write to S. Bocho and tell him exactly this. Semper Fi! Stay safe... A Marine's mom

[Kenneth]

What do you mean "Over There" isn't very good? Next thing you'll be saying "MASH" wasn't a documentary about the troops in Vietnam, oh, wait, was that Korea? One of those slanty-eyed places anyway. All joking aside, you miss the real point of the program. Most viewers don't know what is really happening in Iraq, so "Over There" will become THE reality. And any soldier who describes the true reality will be dismissed as "deluded". This show is the next front in the war against the war.

[e1]

i wasn't going to watch the show at all, then wound up watching one episode for extreme lack of anything else to watch. i didn't know whether to laugh or cry. i am a little shocked that they'd even make a TV show about a war while it's going on, it seemed direspectful in the first place. and then for the execution to be so bad, so badly written and acted and have so little resemblance to the military men and women who i know. well, that's what made it funny in ways i'm sure the producers didn't intend. i agree with those who've written that if i want to find out what it's really like Over There, i'll read your blog.

[Dave]

I have to say I've been watching the show and enjoy it, but realize that as with any show, a suspension of reality is assumed. But I do like what I interpret as support for our real troops. So much is said against those working in Iraq, and the issue that the show addresses - however flawed in the content of its delivery - is that war is hell, but no matter what, our boys are doing the best they can, and people should not be so quick to judge by the content they see on the news. That's what I've gotten out of the show anyway. Again, thanks for your blog.

[cheesecakey]

great blog! glad to hear that a soldier thinks it's as shitty as I did.... I only made it 20 min. into the 1st episode and couldn't watch anymore.

[Jim Jones]

It is called entertainment. It takes dramatic license and is explicitly not a documentary. Given that, I find it entertaining and some aspects are thought provoking. Especially when placed against other even more mind numbing TV. Seeing the commentary here and elsewhere I am confirming that the “action” is bogus. I thought so and find it no big surprise. I don’t think this show will change any minds about the horror of war or why it is needed. I will keep watching while it still airs and checking back here for the frontline critique and reality check.

[blindmind]

Hey, I understand sometimes things are so completely flawed that you don't even know where to begin when commenting on them but... Here's the thing. I work in television. As a writer (no, nothing remotely to do with "Over There") but I do watch the show and I'm VERY curious to hear where, how, why and just how much it falls short. If you have the time....

[SSG_K]

Sir, While I was in Baghdad some of us started a tradition called "Bad Movie Night". Once a week we would try to find the absolute worst movies that we could. The three dollar value pack movies at the PX were the usual stuff but the "Splat Pack" also went over pretty well. It was a point of honor that we would sit through the entire movie. I think that we only bailed on one, a David Hasselhoff 'thriller'. Having sat through that Hollywood drivel I think you may have just made a start at riviving our old club.

[Jamie Dawn]

I've purposefully avoided the show, and I'm glad I did.

[James]

I tried and keep an open mind, and suffered through 3 episodes. It didn't get any better. In fact it got worse. Apparently in Hollywood imagery people in the military are a bunch of incompetent buffoons. I guess it makes for better drama.

[Peter Minoc]

I just found your blog and love it. My wife ran over to me to see why I was laughing so hard. I had a feeling that Hollywood would screw this up, too. Thank you for your service and God Bless!!

[Isaac]

I've never been in combat either, but even I knew the show was bogus. It has already had all the worst "war movie" cliches, and has hardly focused at all on (what I perceive to be) the real dramas happening in Iraq right now, which are not battles, like the one that appears in the first episode. These "Braveheart"-style battles, in which both sides are literally on the same level, are probably easier for Hollywood to understand -- they've been depicting them for a hundred years, after all -- but they are a lot less challenging than the real conflicts, dealing with the people and trying to do it peacefully. Hollywood only understands violence.

[PebblePie]

Hi this is a great read, I posted it, (sorry I'm not sure how trackbacks work) I hope they are just autu...LOL

[Sirc_Valence]

I think its funny when people get sucky gifts. When I do, I'm still grateful, but I feel bad getting rid of them if they are defective in some way. Especially when they are obviously thoughtful gifts, but just not right. Maybe this is a good time to bring up Liberty Film Festival. Not to worry, 2.0 is on its way this October, 2005. Check out this article. http://www.libertyfilmfestival.com/libertas/index.php?p=836 I hope this thing blows up and smashes the leftwing propaganda-machine that dominates Hollywood today, just like the blogosphere did to the MSM and shattered it into itty bitty irrelevant pieces. This could be the early stages of something beautiful. =)

[sarge19ksbaby]

well T-6 what can i say, i was sent here by another wife that is addicted to your blog, and well as we are BOTH spouses of soldiers currently seriving in Iraq, i must totally agree with you. The "family" they depict in the show was enough to make me want to scream in frustration and thank Hollywood once again for assisting in depreciating the value of our military once again. I think in the recent Yeas the only movie I have seen that even remotely addresses the plight of the wives is "We Were Soldiers". I have enjoyed your blog, you see on many days my husband is off of somany different tasks, i am lucky to hear from him once a week. At least reading yours i know a little of how things are going over there. (My husband is also attacthed to 3ID, different sector though!) thanks for making my day a little brighter when i cannot hear from my soldier!!! keep you heads up and one more day down....(155 and a wake up here!)

[Yankee PaPa]

..People are only beginning to get a glimpse of reality today and that is only because of what is happening here in America at this moment..The tragedy that is taking place in Louisiana..Mississippi..and Alabama..Want a look at reality..Just turn on your TV..People surviving..dieing..not knowing what tomorrow is going to bring..I have seen as much devastation in the Southern United States as I have seen in my own experiences in a war zone..Why would I want to watch a movie about it..Not only are my concerns with the troops in Iraq..but also with the people that are affected by this tragedy taking place now..And we will have to deal with the effects of this for a long time to come..Thanks 6..Stay Safe..The enemy will use this to their benefit..so be extra careful out there for a while..

[Sue]

Amen to that. I'm not in the military, but the rest of my family has been or currently is. Hollywood...all in it for the money. Regardless of how real or fake.

[Edward]

T6, I saw all of 5 minutes of the first episode and moved on to reading a book because I couldn't take any more. Even though I do not have personal military experience, it was so obviously the usual crap that Hollywood dishes out. I salute your being able to laugh --- I got angry at the depiction of the soldiers in the field.

[Charlotte Tinker - Memphis TN]

(Got here via PetCobra)... I had some trepidation about watching the show (Over There) but I was kinda curious like most Americans... Until my good friend & cousin Mark Edwards died in Iraq 06-09-05. He was with the Company H, 2nd squadron, 278th Armored Calvary Regiment. I also have someone stationed in Afghanistan (who shall remain nameless but is from VA and lives in MS/TN) that I care about who was given 2 days notice he was shipping out. I didn't even get to say Goodbye. I have NO interest in watching that show and after reading so many posts about it realized I was correct to not really want to see it to begin with. I think it's tactless & gauche & is disrespectful to the Men & Women who continue to risk their necks ... Like You! Please take care of yourself & pass that request on to all of our Soldiers!!!

[Tom Green]

I'm retired Military. In all my deployments, I remember one movie that everyone watched, wherever we were. That was "The Green Berets" with John Wayne. The only movies that I think have come close to real were "Platoon" and "Saving Private Ryan." Keep your head down.

[Mr. Hibbity Gibbity]

This isn't about the show itself, but rather, an attempt to shed some light on the typical Hollywood mindset. First, I worked in the industry for a while. Second, I left the industry because the executives, producers, writers, stars and directors truly believe their own entertainment. To them, Hollywood is not a reflection of the real world, the "real world" is a reflection of Hollywood. Creepy.

[Timberbee]

I have not seen this show yet. It was in the air in the shop over the weekend, but there were no judgements passed, merely expressions that it was on, giving way to two discussing their nephews who are, or were, "Over there", and All of us, without exception, wondering how this would play out. It's good to hear the views of someone who Is Over there. Look at the Blogs, there is interest in knowing what is really happening, but, those shows don't happen in a vaccuum, I don't see the content which appears here, and on many other MilBlogs in any of the Major media outlets. I can't imagine it appearing in the movies either, but you know, people are receptive to it. We Want to know what's going on and how you all are faring over there.

[Christine]

Since when has Hollywood been real? Real is why I read "365 and a Wakeup"