Connection between War and Pop Culture!

After listening to the last two lectures in class, I have really given some thought to who is at fault for the virtual citizen-solider and the lifestyle marketing. After much consideration, I have concluded that it is both parties fault. On the one side, you have the Army who is doing what they believe is in their best interests, recruiting and training wise. They believe that if you get a child younger, he will grow up wanting to be part of that bigger picture, something bigger than himself. They would want to be part of the action he sees in Call of Duty or movies like Lone Survivor or Act of Valor. The child will feel the patriotism and live the certain lifestyle of a solider. As for training, the Army is using social media and interactive technology, such as simulations to help bridge the gap in training. There is only so many resources that the armed forces have to do training exercises, so with the interactive training, you can use this while in areas that cannot have traditional training exercises. I can see how both of these efforts are relevant and helpful to the Army and armed forces. 

On the other hand, when you think about the people who are affected by the simulations, video games, Army experience centers, commercials, movies, and everything else that are making the Army look glamorous and not as dangerous and difficult as it is in real-life, I would say that it is both the Army’s fault and the person’s fault. First off, the Army should not downplay the seriousness of enlisting just for the sake of high enrollment into the armed forces. They should be cautious when dealing with impressionable teens. When at Army Experience centers, the simulations, video games and relaxed atmosphere sends off a faulty message to the viewers, especially the younger generation using the center. They need to be more conscious of that situation. On the other side of that argument, teens and children who use the experience center, play Call of Duty or Battlefield, or watch war movies need to take it upon themselves to research the field before enlisting and acting as though because you play video games, you would be able to go overseas and protect your country like our men and women in uniform do every day. 

Overall, I blame both sides. I think that the simulations and video games are a great training tool and can help recruit but at a certain point, I believe there needs to be a level of education about what you are getting into. War is not a video game that you can just wait 10 seconds and get your life back. It is a life or death situation that we need to begin taking more seriously again as a society!