Adam's Apple
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- Apr 25, 2004
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Surprise: Hollywood Lauds Pentagon
By Peter A. Brown, The Orlando Sentinel
December 23, 2005
Stereotypes exist because they often tend to be accurate. Yet exceptions to the rule are often the most heartwarming. That's why Wednesday evenings, when my family gets together to watch "E-Ring", have become a joy to behold.
"Man bites dog" stories are the ones that catch people's attention. And that certainly is the case when Hollywood--whose collective opposition to the Bush administration's foreign policy is well known--offers a weekly tribute to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.
NBC's "E-Ring" does more to remind viewers that the folks who make up the U.S. military are special people than I can remember since I was a kid. That was during the John Wayne era many decades ago, when Hollywood glorified the U.S. military as a matter of course.
If those epics were a bit too much flag-waving for some, since then the entertainment industry, for the most part, has taken the opposite tack.
There have been exceptions, of course, and perhaps "E-Ring" is among those, although one can only hope it might signify the turning of that tide.
"E-Ring", named after the Pentagon corridor where the decision-making takes place, focuses on the people who plan and participate in covert military operations. Just as "The West Wing" sought to give viewers a look inside the White House, this show seeks to explain the internal politics and peculiarities of the Pentagon. It does a pretty good job.
The show is certainly a bit schmaltzy and has the soap-opera accoutrements of personal romances to give the plot some popular appeal. But it does an outstanding job of explaining to viewers, all too many of whom in these days of volunteer armed forces don't know soldiers and sailors, what makes the men and women in uniform tick.
for full article:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/orl-brown2305dec23,0,3411670.column
By Peter A. Brown, The Orlando Sentinel
December 23, 2005
Stereotypes exist because they often tend to be accurate. Yet exceptions to the rule are often the most heartwarming. That's why Wednesday evenings, when my family gets together to watch "E-Ring", have become a joy to behold.
"Man bites dog" stories are the ones that catch people's attention. And that certainly is the case when Hollywood--whose collective opposition to the Bush administration's foreign policy is well known--offers a weekly tribute to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces.
NBC's "E-Ring" does more to remind viewers that the folks who make up the U.S. military are special people than I can remember since I was a kid. That was during the John Wayne era many decades ago, when Hollywood glorified the U.S. military as a matter of course.
If those epics were a bit too much flag-waving for some, since then the entertainment industry, for the most part, has taken the opposite tack.
There have been exceptions, of course, and perhaps "E-Ring" is among those, although one can only hope it might signify the turning of that tide.
"E-Ring", named after the Pentagon corridor where the decision-making takes place, focuses on the people who plan and participate in covert military operations. Just as "The West Wing" sought to give viewers a look inside the White House, this show seeks to explain the internal politics and peculiarities of the Pentagon. It does a pretty good job.
The show is certainly a bit schmaltzy and has the soap-opera accoutrements of personal romances to give the plot some popular appeal. But it does an outstanding job of explaining to viewers, all too many of whom in these days of volunteer armed forces don't know soldiers and sailors, what makes the men and women in uniform tick.
for full article:
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/columnists/orl-brown2305dec23,0,3411670.column
