We use the word Romance in a far to narrow way. Sort of similar to how Comedy now means that something is funny. It has a broader meaning.
Instapundit linked to Peggy Noonan...
"Apocalypse No
The New Republic's editors seem to have mistaken Vietnam movies for real life."
And she says something very similar to what I've said in past posts about the Baghdad Diaries.
It's the romance.
It's heartfelt longing for the Hollywood version of Vietnam.
And that's what I heard. Those defending Shock Troops talked about how real it was, how it really showed the real dehumanization of real war.
Mistaking real life for Vietnam war movies.
Instapundit linked to Peggy Noonan...
"Apocalypse No
The New Republic's editors seem to have mistaken Vietnam movies for real life."
And she says something very similar to what I've said in past posts about the Baghdad Diaries.
It's the romance.
It's heartfelt longing for the Hollywood version of Vietnam.
People *want* our guys to be cold killers, to walk that edge they could never walk, to give into base instincts. To whore and smoke opium in those SE Asia brothels. Like freaking Dear Hunter or something.
Oh *that's* real. When they read stories like "shock troops" they think, finally, someone is telling a story that is *real*.
And that's what I heard. Those defending Shock Troops talked about how real it was, how it really showed the real dehumanization of real war.
Mistaking real life for Vietnam war movies.
I've read accounts that were stark and honest about how bad it is and how it affected the person writing. Those accounts didn't dehumanize, they humanized, showing a painful reality, not this Hollywood version of morality free, repugnant, slumming.
Beauchamp describes *himself* as a caricature.
And he's judged his audience well.
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Ymarsakar