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    Combat Obscura

    Combat Obscura

    A Marine Corps combat camera guy filmed Marines in action. When he got out of the Marines he used the footage to make a documentary that depicts real combat Marines. The DoD is not happy.


    Former Marine Miles Lagoze hopes his film “Combat Obscura” will alter the “sanitized and sanctified view of the military” many Americans hold by showing them his view of what combat is actually like.

    “It’s important because if you worship the military too much, you lose track of why we’re actually at war and the underlying issues that are causing it,” Lagoze told Stars and Stripes during a phone interview before the film’s release on Friday.


    The documentary — a patchwork of scenes showing Marines smoking marijuana while on patrol in Afghanistan, defecating outside the homes of locals, swearing at children and talking lightly of killing innocent people — goes far to challenge the ubiquitous label of “hero” frequently bestowed on American servicemembers.


    The cultural insensitivity on display may also give viewers the feeling that they’re getting an explanation, or at least part of one, as to why America’s longest war — now in its 18th year — hasn’t been won.


    Footage used in the film was taken by Lagoze, then a lance corporal, and other combat cameramen during a deployment to Helmand province with the 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment between 2011 and 2012.



    Lagoze’s job as a combat cameraman was to shoot and edit video of Marines at war. After being approved by the military, the footage was distributed to private news networks and the American Forces Network.


    A video Lagoze shot of a November 2011 attack on Patrol Base Georgetown in Helmand’s Kajaki Sofla was picked up by CNN that winter and billed it as a “rare, firsthand glimpse into a battle with the Taliban” and an “unfiltered look” at the war.


    The video shows a platoon taking indirect fire, 30 mm grenades and sniper fire. They’re still beating back the attackers when they have to coordinate a medical evacuation for a wounded comrade.
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    Cthulhu's Avatar Senior Member
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    My only wondering is how cherry picker the footage is. And how fair the coverage is.

    I know there are some monsters in the Marines, I'm not disputing that. But are they trying to paint them in the worst possible light, or it that just what this guy witnessed?

    Sent from my evil cell phone.
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    Ephesians 6:12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cthulhu View Post
    My only wondering is how cherry picker the footage is. And how fair the coverage is.

    I know there are some monsters in the Marines, I'm not disputing that. But are they trying to paint them in the worst possible light, or it that just what this guy witnessed?

    Sent from my evil cell phone.
    From what I read it is just a composition of normal combat experiences for Marines in combat. The documentary doesn't paint them in bad light or good light. Just an accurate point-in-time light. Most critics say the documentary should have gone further and added interviews with the Marines years latter to add another element to the documentary. The film-maker has an answer for that in the link above.
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