Why Can't the Media Portray Military Correctly? (In the Superficial ways)

2015-01-04T05:38:51-05:00

Watching a film on television recently, the ad for another series came on and THIS image was shown. What you are looking at is the elusive "Corporal General" I believe :)

Now I get that most people outside of the military won't understand our acronyms, culture, or even rank structure. I am forgiving when Hollywood wants to portray certain things military related and they won't necessarily be accurate (I'm sure that happens with all fields). But for Pete's sake, the basic things like "how to wear a uniform" and "making the rank an actual existing one" are so, SO easy to check. Further, they could ask ANY Veteran (most of whom would help, assist, or advise for FREE). To me it's just lazy shoddy work.

Another example was watching the show Supernatural (feel free to judge me) and the brothers were on a military post and went to talk to a female Soldier (she was in Army ACUs) wearing, quite clearly, a PC with the PFC rank on it. She then proceeded to introduce herself as "Navy Sergeant So-and-So". WTF? Again... shoddy work. And since they chose to borrow the real uniform anyway, could they not have gotten the correct rank on one?!

This is not a pressing issue. It is not a threat to global security. It is not something I think will even change. It's primarily something I wanted to vent about, and ask for you all to share your similar observations and annoyances in the media.

UPDATE: After some research found that yes, Hollywood CAN portray the uniform accurately (they have a Constitutional right to do so, or not do so, and to portray military however they want) they just generally choose not to. Great article about it below. http://www.stripes.com/blogs/the-rumor-doctor/the-rumor-doctor-1.104348/why-can-t-hollywood-get-military-uniforms-right-1.159651

Why can't Hollywood get military uniforms right?

An urban legend is Hollywood can't accurately portray uniforms because doing so would be against the law.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 5:45 AM

2015-01-04T05:45:21-05:00

Here's from Supernatural. So much wrong with this.

Response by TSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 6:06 AM

2015-01-04T06:06:13-05:00

CPT Private RallyPoint Member I was watching the Flash yesterday and stopped immediately when I saw a Major General wearing Class A "greens." And then I saw his CIB, and his fruit salad, and his arrow insignia, and started looking up some of his fruit salad . . . it was a downward spiral.

I'll post a picture if I can find it but I couldn't even ID his most prominent ribbon. And he had 3 ribbons above his Bronze Star with cluster.

Edit: Got a picture!

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 6:12 AM

2015-01-04T06:12:18-05:00

I am sorry, I just can't get past the part where you watch Supernatural. So what's going on in the Young and the restless?

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 7:29 AM

2015-01-04T07:29:10-05:00

I also used to be infuriated when I would see these kinds of things on TV but one of the E-6s in my unit made a good point one day. If the media got everything right people who would try to impersonate military personnel would be harder to spot.

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Jan 4 at 2015 9:07 AM

2015-01-04T09:07:02-05:00

They only have to get it right enough to trick enough people to keep them interested and not turn it off that they keep making money.

I imagine they get lots of niche worlds pretty wrong: police, medicine, etc.

That said, I get really irritate with the simple, easy stuff. Things where you just need a LCpl to watch it, and he can tell you everything you did wrong.

Response by SFC Mark Merino made Jan 4 at 2015 1:20 PM

2015-01-04T13:20:34-05:00

I remember when Hawkeye made Radar a "Corporal Captain" so he could get into the O-club.

Response by SSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 1:24 PM

2015-01-04T13:24:42-05:00

This has to be one of the funniest mistakes ever. I wonder what was going on, last minute snafu too late to fix.. lol. Major SSgt.

Response by PO1 Chris Crawley made Jan 4 at 2015 1:55 PM

2015-01-04T13:55:01-05:00

Once upon a time, federal regulations prohibited accurate uniforms from being worn by those who were not active duty or reserves. That's why you could always find errors, mostly on the ribbon bars, even when the film makers/TV people were trying for SOME realism.

Response by LCDR Jamie Galus made Jan 4 at 2015 2:04 PM

2015-01-04T14:04:32-05:00

During my last deployment, I really enjoyed watching the first two seasons of Homeland. Yet some of the ridiculous errors pertaining to the Marine Corps and the Navy really distracted me. It would have been a much better series if GySgt Brody had a regulation hair called and stopped calling himself "Sergeant".

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 2:19 PM

2015-01-04T14:19:10-05:00

there is actually a reason they cannot wear the uniform correctly. soemthing like infringement rights or something. someone i used to know, knew a guy, that was married to a girl that had a friend who's brother wrote the law. lol. i dont remember where i heard it. but that was what i was told.

Response by SGT Michael Glenn made Jan 4 at 2015 3:41 PM

2015-01-04T15:41:32-05:00

I think they do this to keep us vets busy looking for the discrepancies so we arent bored through the entire film???

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 3:50 PM

2015-01-04T15:50:14-05:00

I like the idea used in the picture you posted. 1LT Josh Curtis. The next time I have to alter my rank on my dress uniform, and don't have time to sew it on, I will use General Stars like pins to hold it on my sleeve. What could go wrong?

Response by SGT Justin Singleton made Jan 4 at 2015 3:50 PM

2015-01-04T15:50:18-05:00

Ah, but the rather talented PV2 John Smith, military advisor for the show, signed off on this exemplary work. You are just hating on Private Smith because he landed the gig and not you, lol.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 3:56 PM

2015-01-04T15:56:02-05:00

Because why bother researching how to properly wear a uniform that less than 10% of the nation is familiar with? It's a dumb reason, but it's the only thing I can think of. For something so easy to take less than an hour to research and get right it's hard to interpret this as anything but laziness.

I've heard a lot of people talk about how the military discourages media from accurately depicting the military uniforms and tactics for essentially OPSEC reasons, but that always seemed silly and I never saw anything officially stated along those lines.

Response by LTC Stephen C. made Jan 4 at 2015 5:43 PM

2015-01-04T17:43:13-05:00

Ironically, CPT Private RallyPoint Member, when the credits are rolled at the end of the movie or show, there will invariably be a military advisor credited, and whatever you just saw will be fraught with errors! I find it astounding! I wouldn't even want my name associated with most the stuff we see!

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 6:12 PM

2015-01-04T18:12:19-05:00

I'm going to ignore the whole "Supernatural" thing. We've all got our guilt little pleasures.

But, On to the real issue. This is why my wife won't watch military shows or movies with me. I never considered myself to be a Uniform Reg Nazi, but the first thing I see triggers a response, and my brain automatically starts "inspecting" got inaccuracies at that point.

"His hair is too long," becomes:

"His ribbon rack is out of order."

"He is a Chief Master Sergeant, why aren't they calling him Chief?"

Then my wife just turns off the TV because it's easier on us all.

Response by SFC Michael Jackson, MBA made Jan 4 at 2015 6:20 PM

2015-01-04T18:20:50-05:00

To be fair, if the media used actual ranks wouldn't they be guilty of inpersonating servicemen and stolen valor

Response by WO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 6:22 PM

2015-01-04T18:22:51-05:00

Now I could be wrong but I was always told that they are supposed to have certain flaws that are recognizable by the military so that we know they are not trying to impersonate military in such a manner

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 4 at 2015 6:26 PM

2015-01-04T18:26:22-05:00

Well, honestly, it took me five minutes to figure out the "Corporal General" thing, and I'm a SM. However, I am not a Marine...and neither are most folks watching the show.

The one other Army Reserve soldier, besides yourself (offered a challenge, and I accepted), who watches "Supernatural", and who caught the mistake, has probably Facebooked the hell out of it.

There are E.O.D guys who have slammed "The Hurt Locker". Marines have lost their minds over "Full Metal Jacket"...Navy and "GI Jane." We're about to hit a sh*t-storm with "American Sniper" on the forums. Runs the gamut of inaccurate to unfeasible. However, the average US citizen has no clue.
My two favorite movies are "Platoon" and "Hamburger Hill". Maybe an infantryman could identify what's wrong, but I can't...or really, don't want to, because those are some damn good war movies.
(I would like to meet the one guy who used "In The Army Now", however, as the spark for his enlistment.)
I am looking forward to the day when they make a documentary about National Guard truck drivers and the fact that we have no problems driving $100,000 government vehicles on ice, but miss drill because our Dodge Rams encountered a snowflake.
You can be sure that I will destroy that movie...from cast to costume, but in the meantime, I'd like to enjoy "Stripes" in semi-total ignorance.

Response by SP5 Michael Rathbun made Jan 4 at 2015 6:43 PM

2015-01-04T18:43:02-05:00

For theatrical purposes you can "impersonate" anybody: Law Enforcement, Military, European Nobility, the POTUS...

Just don't leave the set/theatre in costume. Then it is potentially bad news.

Response by MAJ Chris Ballard made Jan 7 at 2015 9:59 AM

2015-01-07T09:59:36-05:00

It comes down to a couple of things:
1) Hollywood is lazy. They figure camo is camo, patches look cool, and berets=badass, no matter how it's worn. Even when they have a technical advisor, that person has very little actual control over production.
2) Most of the country does not know anyone who is actually in uniform, so they look at it and say, "Captain First Class Gunnery Chief Smith? Sounds legit."

To me the worst offenders were always Law and Order. I would always cringe whenever they had a military-themed episode, because I knew it was going to be shown in the worst possible light.

Response by CW5 Jim Steddum made Jan 10 at 2015 10:56 PM

2015-01-10T22:56:43-05:00

Actors MAY wear the correct uniform. See 10 USC 772(f).

(f) While portraying a member of the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps, an actor in a theatrical or motion-picture production may wear the uniform of that armed force if the portrayal does not tend to discredit that armed force.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/772

10 U.S. Code § 772 - When wearing by persons not on active duty authorized | US Law | LII / Legal...

June 3, 1916, ch. 134, §12 (words before 4th semicolon, and words after 7th semicolon, of 1st proviso of 1st par.; and last proviso of last par.), 39 Stat. 216; July 9, 1918, ch. 143, subch. XVII, §10 (last proviso), 40 Stat. 892; June 4, 1920, ch. 228, §8, 41 Stat. 836; June 6, 1942, ch. 382, 56 Stat. 328; May 24, 1949, ch. 139, §15(b) (last proviso), 63 Stat. 91; July 6, 1953, ch. 180, §1, 67 Stat. 140.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 10 at 2015 10:59 PM

2015-01-10T22:59:46-05:00

Two of my buddies and I are working on scripts for a Tragic Comedy about the Army and our goal is the fix this problem. Think MASH meets drunk history.

Response by PFC Oriana Franklin made Jan 11 at 2015 11:44 AM

2015-01-11T11:44:42-05:00

OPSEC civilians don't need to know the proper wear of the uniform. Hey thats cool with me then I can point out a fake.