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Thursday, January 04, 2007

Not just another war flick...

Aptly, with the recent controversial execution of Saddam Hussien, I managed to complete Season 1 of "Over There", a series by Steven Bochco (NYPD Blue). It focuses on the frontline of the current US/Iraqi conflict and the effects on both by the troops and their families as well as the oftenly misunderstood Iraqis.

For those who think this is your typical shoot-em-up war movie, you couldn't be more wrong. It's handles bleak and sensitive humanizing topics of the war that actually raises a few eyebrows. Notably, it isn't a liberal anti-war show nor does it contain any pro-war propaganda and it certainly does not deal with any of the political bullshit.

Sadly, Fox Studios came under a lot of fire and cancelled the series after one season, despite getting critical praise from some quarters. The ratings were not fantastic because people were just not ready to handle the harsh truth portrayed in all 13 episodes.

Personally, I find the series well-paced and riveting. Issues of infidelity, loneliness, female soldiers in battle, the incompetence of some commanding officers, conflicts between comrades-in-arms, and the fact that the show does not justify the ongoing war campaign. There's so much room to grow, if only the makers and the studio had a little more belief and patience.

I doubt our local TV station will bother with this because they rather broadcast pointless reality dance shows, the repeated-to-death Mr Bean, poorly locally-produced shows and all the other stuff that should have been flushed down the toilet. You want reality? "Over There" is a real as it can get... despite it being a fiction series.