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Opinion: Generation Kill - Part 1: "Get Some" 
Mon, Jul 14
Though I've watched only last night's debut segment of the HBO miniseries, I already know exactly how I'll feel about the next 6 episodes and the series as a whole: neutral. Totally, boringly neutral. And you want to know how I know this already? Because Generation Kill was written and exec produced by David Simon, creator/writer/producer of The Wire, HBO's critically acclaimed series that ended this past year. Want to guess how I feel when I watch The Wire, in spite of its groundbreaking casting, unique point-of-view and intelligent writing? That's right: neutral. Here's why:
As with The Wire, in Generation Kill, the object is not to make you feel. The object is to make you think, and to me, that's a death knell for any series that hopes to make me a dedicated viewer. Yes, the series (I'm going to stop saying "as with The Wire" every time, as its pretty much always the case) provides an in-depth, firsthand look into a fascinating, cliche-busting world the average viewer has never thought to explore, and for this, it should be applauded and appreciated. But this focus on the world as opposed to the people in it is also the series' downfall in terms of emotional impact, as the circumstances and actions are the heart of the work, not the characters themselves. Take my favorite show Rescue Me for instance (a good choice, as both Chief Riley's son and Sully from season one are on Generation Kill). Yes, its the only show you've ever seen about New York firefighters and the only show you've seen that explores the psychological effects of 9/11 on those who were there. But is the show really about firefighters? No. It's about Tommy Gavin (Dennis Leary) and his fight to hold his life together, to be a father and friend to his fellow firefighters, and to deal with the demons that haunt him daily (too much alliteration?) The Wire is not the story of Jimmy McNulty keeping his life together, it's not the story of Avon Barksdale trying to rise up in the criminal world, it's not the story of Bubbles trying to score those WMD's (We got yellowtops! Got them red tops!) Rather, it's the story of how cops, criminals, and politicians interact in the complicated web of Baltimore life.
Generation Kill is the same way. Like The Wire, its an ensemble piece, meaning there's no one to really latch on to, no individual perspective through which the narrative unfolds. This individual perspective is of course not a necessity for good television, but it is a necessity for emotional involvement: whose story is it? As viewers, we need that surrogate, that character with whom we connect and support as we go through his/her (though its really our) journey. You know its a bad sign when you watch a 70 minute episode and the only names you can remember are Godfather (the commander with throat cancer) and Randy (the handsome dude with J Lo sunglasses).
Think about HBO's other wartime miniseries, Band of Brothers, a.k.a. the Best Miniseries of All Time. That epic series had everything Generation Kill has in terms of an insider look into a world you only know about from the news or stories or movies, but its focus was on the characters. That show was about the men of Easy company, not just about World War II. Generation Kill is about the Iraq War, not about the marines who fought it-- do you see the distinction? It doesn't help Generation Kill's cause that aside from one dude with glasses and the characters I recognize from other shows (one of the random cops from The Wire is here as well as the Rescue Me dudes), every other character looks and sounds exactly the same. Hopefully this homogeneity will dissipate as the series progresses, but even then, I doubt I'll begin attaching to specific characters or caring about them individually.
David Simon is a smart, smart dude. That much is clear. He never shies away from dealing with important, contemporary issues in important, contemporary ways, like racism, disillusionment, corruption, hope, and many more. But at the same time, it's also crystal clear that David Simon began his career as a journalist, not an author or screenwriter. David Simon looks for the story, the verisimilitude, the interesting idea. He doesn't look for the emotional hook, the character arc, or the vulnerability of his primary players. And until David Simon can crack this code and find a way to combine his journalistic eye for riveting stories with the human need for emotional connection, not only will his projects struggle to find viewership as The Wire did and Generation Kill surely will, (yo David: people like to care about who they watch!!), but I'll sadly feel the same way about everything he does: intellectually engaged + emotionally bored = neutral.
Grade: B- Though I’ve watched only last night’s debut segment of the HBO miniseries, I already kno
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