Over the weekend, The Intercept published a piece decrying war movies that celebrate “problematic” notions about masculinity, like that men who put themselves into harm’s way should be respected and admired:
In the #MeToo era, Hollywood should turn away from war movies like “12 Strong” that send harmful messages about masculinity and violence. https://t.co/lSKDkv9ub3
— The Intercept (@theintercept) January 27, 2018
Peter Maass writes:
Hollywood has shown itself capable of making excellent war movies (think “Three Kings,” “Paths of Glory,” and “The Best Years of Our Lives”), but most are problematic. Some of the biggest war movies of the post-9/11 era don’t just show violence in ways that are often gratuitous and occasionally racist. They model a cliched form of masculinity that veers from simplistic to monstrous.
For instance, you can see Rambo and John Wayne return to life in the latest war blockbuster, “12 Strong,” which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, who also brought us “Black Hawk Down.” “12 Strong” is an extravaganza about a Special Forces team that fought the Taliban in Afghanistan in the weeks and months after 9/11. During the movie’s pivotal scene, the leader of the Green Berets, played by Chris Hemsworth (the grievously handsome star of the Thor franchise), decimates a hive of Taliban fighters with his rifle ablaze as he gallops ahead on his fearless horse (yes, he’s riding a horse). In the same way that Hemsworth’s assault weapon goes rat-tat-tat and the bad guys fall like bulleted dominoes, the scene itself checks off one born-in-Hollywood cliché after another: of the rugged gunslinger, the warrior in camo, good versus evil, the modern vanquishing the profane, a man at his fullest.
Sean Parnell, a former U.S. Army Ranger, fought alongside the kinds of men whose masculinity Maass finds so “simplistic” and “monstrous,” and he didn’t hesitate to put in his own two cents:
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We defended the innocent from the violent predations of our enemy.
We were protectors of the weak.
We gave women in Afghanistan the freedom and security to go to school & learn to read.
Shut up. https://t.co/0R96mE2eRN— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 28, 2018
Well said, sir!
— Jenna Jameson (@jennajameson) January 29, 2018
And there was plenty more where that came from:
https://twitter.com/oldandydufresne/status/957704985457954820
Says the d-bag spewing ignorance from an anonymous account. Truly courageous.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/oldandydufresne/status/957712431257669634
I don’t propagate lies. I try really hard to speak the truth as it is.
And when Im asked to give my opinion, it’s just that. Take it or leave it. Like it or not.— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 28, 2018
We definitely like it.
"Shujt up" — the slogan of the defenders of "freedom." Here's my slogan: fuck off. https://t.co/jlDmGJWYfR
— Justin Raimondo (@JustinRaimondo) January 28, 2018
Say it to my face keyboard commando.
Let’s see how that goes for you. https://t.co/yoSRQQ5gQP— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/NEEDY____/status/957773445424668673
Umm. No we didn’t. What the hell drug are these people taking?! https://t.co/DWgJVPRBRE
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/joeybottt/status/957818573522694144
Not a single one. https://t.co/xiDbENJVyx
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
How many babies did you kill? https://t.co/aT3BMp4Ivn
— Clio the Communist ? (@CommieClio) January 29, 2018
None. https://t.co/QWqTgrxOh9
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
You did these good things by killing hundreds of thousands innocents as well as combatants. I wonder if the costs of lives, of environment, of culture are worth it to the people you have so broadly impacted.
— joyce (@jnotine) January 29, 2018
We did not kill a single civilian. https://t.co/rRIfl9LOX5
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/StarvingWriter_/status/958019101602885632
We didn't fight goat farmers. We fought some of the toughest, combat hardened light infantry in the world. A global jihadist all star team that murdered women & children daily.
We won every fight we were in & the world is better off without that evil.
Educate yourself. https://t.co/slj6HUndYh— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/totalSJW/status/958046978180550657
This is not what we did.
Wise up. https://t.co/VDFklTMUOS
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
You protected poppy fields in an illegal war. Get over yourself buddy
— Wowzers Permanente (@Deals_Bilities) January 29, 2018
Umm. No we didn’t. https://t.co/JJseUhHRXq
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
Been called a baby killer, a war criminal, & so many other things in the past 24 hours…all for saying that we protected women and children in Afghanistan. Which we did, & did well.
Lots of hatred out there. https://t.co/LEluNYAvIx
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
A lot of hatred from a lot of people who refuse to be grateful for the freedoms afforded to them by brave, masculine men.
To be a man isn’t inherently virtuous. To be a man is to know your strength to show respect & restraint, & to offer strength and protection to the vulnerable. Men who understand their masculinity this way are not perpetrators of sexual violence. Boys who don’t understand it are.
— Elise Tollefson Johnson (@entollefson) January 29, 2018
Good response to charge of excessive masculinity. Thank God for men of courage, integrity and valor https://t.co/e0AQOQJla1
— Janice Shaw Crouse (@janicecrouse) January 28, 2018
THIS.
I have a huge amount of respect for @SeanParnellUSA, and this is one of the reasons why. He and his sacrifice embody what non-toxic, constructive masculinity is like. The masculinity that defends rather than subjugates or bullies. It deserves respect, not slurs. https://t.co/Xsb6Niz0cS— Chris v Csefalvay, your mom's favourite virologist (@chrisvcsefalvay) January 28, 2018
Fortunately, despite all of the ignorance Parnell’s been forced to contend with, he still gets plenty of respect:
Thank you for your service.
— Josh Wolf (@joshwolfcomedy) January 29, 2018
Was an honor to serve. You’re welcome.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
God bless you. https://t.co/I0xeLmAw7h
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) January 29, 2018
Thank you John. It was an honor to serve.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
Sean, Thank you for your service and commitment to my family and every family and individual in America. Please know that the vast majority of us love you for your selfless service. I am proud of you.
— Austin Hover (@austinhover) January 29, 2018
Thank you for the kind words Austin. I love this country and will always defend it. People attacking me, calling US troops baby killers…again…all it does is put their hatred on display for all America to see. https://t.co/NJyEki7ErW
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
Exactly.
Groupthink in it lowest form, Sean.
Rest assured, those who have your back, greatly outweigh the number of those who wish to stab you in it.
Peace.— Eddie ❌cClintock (@EddieMcClintock) January 29, 2018
Thanks Eddie.
— Sean Parnell (@SeanParnellUSA) January 29, 2018
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