45.8 %
4.2 %
8.3 %
8.3 %
31.3 %
- Mon Nov 09, 2020 3:46 pm
#629663
Starting to?
I noticed the change in coverage of the day starting in about 1994, with the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Original plans for the event were quite light-hearted (spam fritter eating contests and suchlike) until they were hastily revised to something more respectful and sombre.
The next big shift in treatment of the day was, unsurprisingly, over the period between 9/11 and 7/7. What I saw as the difference was the way the war on terror was sold. Previously, the Falklands, Bosnia, Gulf War 1, had been depicted as limited in scope and involvement. They were Our Boys for sure, but doing a specific task and there was a general acceptance that whatever the crimes of Hussein, or Galtieri, there was no real animosity to the average person on the streets of Baghdad or Buenos Aires.
Afghanistan and Iraq 2 were different. There was, in the press, a visceral loathing for the enemy. They were dirty, subhuman, barbaric. "Why are our guys out there?" was asked a lot, but not out of a pacifistic urge. It was more like "Ungrateful bastards don't even want to be civilised". In a way, the enemy was as much the "soft" people at home as it was the Taliban or insurgents.
To a point I can understand. Both Iraq 1 and the Falklands were stand-up fights against enemies in uniform, with the rules of war being largely kept to. Both had clear moral strength - liberating conquered people from an aggressive neighbour, with broad international backing. I feel that when Britain decided to go into Iraq without much of a leg to stand on, a line was crossed. Somewhere in the collective consciousness, we went "Fuck it". It's the bit in the film where the cop throws his badge away and goes full vigilante, killing anyone who looks at him funny.
And so the tone around remembrance day changed. The poppy thugs are essentially making a little list of those to bully. People with wrong opinions. People with glasses. Clever people. Queers. People who get all offended and that. People who think they're fucking smart or something. Weirdoes. People who are soft as shite. People who want a good kicking. There's something pathetic and crabbed and miserly about it, and to be honest has moved in those peoples' heads from remembering the dead or why they fought, into a lairy celebration of That Time We Kicked Some Heads In.
I noticed the change in coverage of the day starting in about 1994, with the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Original plans for the event were quite light-hearted (spam fritter eating contests and suchlike) until they were hastily revised to something more respectful and sombre.
The next big shift in treatment of the day was, unsurprisingly, over the period between 9/11 and 7/7. What I saw as the difference was the way the war on terror was sold. Previously, the Falklands, Bosnia, Gulf War 1, had been depicted as limited in scope and involvement. They were Our Boys for sure, but doing a specific task and there was a general acceptance that whatever the crimes of Hussein, or Galtieri, there was no real animosity to the average person on the streets of Baghdad or Buenos Aires.
Afghanistan and Iraq 2 were different. There was, in the press, a visceral loathing for the enemy. They were dirty, subhuman, barbaric. "Why are our guys out there?" was asked a lot, but not out of a pacifistic urge. It was more like "Ungrateful bastards don't even want to be civilised". In a way, the enemy was as much the "soft" people at home as it was the Taliban or insurgents.
To a point I can understand. Both Iraq 1 and the Falklands were stand-up fights against enemies in uniform, with the rules of war being largely kept to. Both had clear moral strength - liberating conquered people from an aggressive neighbour, with broad international backing. I feel that when Britain decided to go into Iraq without much of a leg to stand on, a line was crossed. Somewhere in the collective consciousness, we went "Fuck it". It's the bit in the film where the cop throws his badge away and goes full vigilante, killing anyone who looks at him funny.
And so the tone around remembrance day changed. The poppy thugs are essentially making a little list of those to bully. People with wrong opinions. People with glasses. Clever people. Queers. People who get all offended and that. People who think they're fucking smart or something. Weirdoes. People who are soft as shite. People who want a good kicking. There's something pathetic and crabbed and miserly about it, and to be honest has moved in those peoples' heads from remembering the dead or why they fought, into a lairy celebration of That Time We Kicked Some Heads In.
"There ain't nothing you fear more than a bad headline, is there? You'd rather live in shit than let the world see you work a shovel."
