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It8217;s one long road trip punctuated by terrible violence on HBO8217;s new miniseries about young US Marines in Iraq

It8217;s one long road trip punctuated by terrible violence on HBO8217;s new miniseries about young US Marines in Iraq

Evan Wright had no idea what he was getting into when he was assigned to the Marines 1st Reconnaissance Battalion in the first weeks of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. 8220;I didn8217;t know what 1st Recon was, but all the other reporters looked so jealous, I thought it must be a good spot,8221; Wright recalled. As it happened, he had an upfront view of some of the most perilous fighting in the early days of the war. Along the way, Wright documented the excitement, self-doubt and disillusionment that buffeted the young Marines, a story he told in Rolling Stone magazine and then in his 2004 book Generation Kill.

His reporting resonated with writers David Simon and Ed Burns, who produced The Wire, HBO8217;s urban street crime drama. So when HBO decided to make a miniseries out of Wright8217;s book, Simon and Burns produced it. 8220;It was some of the best war reporting I8217;d read,8221; Simon said.

Generation Kill is a seven-part miniseries now on HBO, about the young Marines of 1st Recon8217;s Bravo Company, elite fighters who specialise in sneaking behind enemy lines. It puts viewers at eye level with the battles fought by the 2nd Platoon, framing the story as a long, dusty road trip punctuated by moments of terrible violence. The series spotlights the Marines8217; 8220;Get some!8221; battle cry, as well as their dark humour. Witnessing it all is Scribe, a journalist based on Wright, who rides in the back of the lead Humvee jeep, ducking fire.

Wright, who wrote the screenplay with Burns and Simon, said he probably wouldn8217;t have accompanied the unit if he had known how dangerous it would be. 8220;After we got to Baghdad, we went over the Humvee, looking at all the bullet holes, and it was the first time I felt kind of sick,8221; he said.

HBO sought to preserve the authenticity Wright captured in the book, shooting in the deserts of southern Africa. The ensemble cast went through a boot camp run by Staff Sgt Eric Kocher, one of the Marines profiled in the book.

Those unfamiliar with military jargon might be initially put off by the lack of exposition in Generation Kill. Terms fly without explanation: 8220;Assassin Actual8221; the radio call sign for Alpha Company8217;s commander, 8220;Oscar Mike8221; which means 8220;on the move8221;.

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Much of Generation Kill is devoted to showing the individual Marines in their environment. Cpl Josh Ray Person belts out Avril Lavigne songs as he drives the Humvee; Sgt Brad 8220;Iceman8221; Colbert fusses over his younger charges like a mother hen. 8220;In media depictions of the military, we8217;re either seeing troops as dupes8212;they signed up for college money, and now they8217;re in Iraq getting bombed8212;or we see them as bloodthirsty psychos, or we see them as the all-American heroes weaving our blanket of freedom,8221; Wright said. 8220;None is accurate. A success of the show would just be to introduce the public to troops that defy easy labels.8221;
-Matea Gold LATWP