Should the Pentagon co-produce television shows? That’s the issue behind this New York Times story, which describes a wave of new programs as “militainment.” The Pentagon is offering detailed technical support to prime-time entertainment shows that deal with issues it favors, in ways it favors, such as an upcoming episode of “JAG” about military tribunals; the Pentagon also is working with ABC, CBS and VH1 on reality shows featuring soldiers on the job in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
There’s reason to be concerned. News reporters should not be denied access to the armed forces in favor of entertainment producers, which is what the Pentagon is doing. But it’s also true that much of today’s news programs are drenched in showbiz; Walter Cronkite cannot be pleased when he sees “Dateline.” I just wasted several minutes of my life watching Ashleigh Banfield explain on MSNBC how she drove in an armored car to Ramallah; I learned nothing.
Perhaps militainment will not be such a bad thing. If these new programs attract viewers, television executives will roll out more military-themed shows, some of which may not require the assistance or approval of Donald Rumsfeld. Why not a Pentagon version of “The West Wing”? Or a “M*A*S*H” for the post-Cold War era? Television news divisions have failed to offer viewers, in a moderately compelling way, an understanding of world affairs; their entertainment cousins might not do worse. “JAG” will never be confused with “Judgement at Nuremberg,” but it could be a start.
No Man’s Land
Proof that a movie can do it all: “No Man’s Land,” which is about the war in Bosnia. It captures, perfectly, the absurdity, horror and madness of the war, and is reminiscent, in its subversive use of humor, of “Dr. Strangelove.” The film was written and directed by a young Bosnian, Danis Tanovic, and revolves around two soldiers, a Bosnian and a Serb, trapped in a trench between the frontlines. “No Man’s Land” is a brilliant companion to Milcho Manchevski’s haunting 1994 movie, “Before the Rain.“
