Did Y'all Watch the Same Show?

Many of us affiliated with the Naval Aviation community were drawn to our televisions last week to watch the PBS series "CARRIER."  Most I suspect with a bit of a suspicious tilt of our head as to how our beloved community would be portrayed.

The 10 part series covered the entire 2005 deployment of the USS Nimitz (CVN-68) and her embarked Air Wing 11.  The series delved into some fairly controversial subjects, oft avoided in polite conversation about what takes place onboard including race relations, sexual tension on a mixed gender warship, religious issues, family issues, political issues and yes it even showed that some of the navy is not an adventure... unless cleaning urinals and sinks is your definition of adventure.  However the series did cover many of the experiences most of the readers of TDB are all too familiar with, from "Crossing the Line", to cyclic ops, to the "Night in the Barrel" (who knew the days of 15 straight bolters or wave-offs was not a thing of the past!)

Whatever your opinion of the series, favorable, unfavorable, indifferent, amused, nostalgic or indignant, I find it interesting how different people SAW the special through their own prismic view.  To which I point yon gentle reader to the "PBS Ombudsman" site, where selected letters and comments about the series are presented... below are a few select nuggets but I  highly recommend you navigate on over to PBS Ombudsman to see it in its entirety. [Link]

I have never been so drawn to watch a show as this one. I became addicted to it within 5 minutes. I served 2 years in the US NAVY and I miss that dearly! Thank you for flooding my brain with memories that I will cherish for a lifetime!

Robin Stephens, Acworth, GA

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Carrier — I expected a show about carrier operations. Instead, I get a show that interviews the 'carrier rats.' Just 'loved' the parts about — "Oh yes, we have a lot of homos and lezzies on board. We are not supposed to get involved with physical relationships, but nobody is going to tell me how to run my life." Nobody is going to tell me?? Too many young, immature & recalcitrant jerks within our military nowadays!!

WEO, East Orange, NJ
USAF veteran

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It is crystal clear to me that the pseudo-documentary "Carrier" is nothing more than recruitment propaganda for the military. We have had to endure endless hours of this justification for war which is broadcast continually during prime time and even throughout the night. It seems to have been carefully coordinated for broadcast just when Gates is sending another carrier to the Middle East to justify a possible attack on Iran. While I support those serving in the military, this type of glorification of the military as a "family or fraternity" does not match the lack of support for the veterans coming back from war. Mel Gibson is the producer of this series so it is no wonder that it presents the military as "cool and patriotic". If PBS continues to broadcast pro-military programs another unjustified war could actually happen, only this time it will be nuclear.

J Hirschinger, Loomis, CA

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Carrier. War is about killing. War kills people; war kills towns and countries. This fact remains no matter how magnificently you portray our military heroes or how miraculous the technology. The PBS series did an excellent job of showing our military might and the valor of our service people. Because we can, PBS appears to be saying we should go to war with (Iran), with or without just cause. Go team! Rah, rah, rah!

Carol Seideman, Boulder, CO

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I, a financial supporter or PBS, am disgusted by the PBS series "Carrier". Why is the last vestige of rational American journalism presenting such a single-minded militaristic viewpoint? Is this what PBS is all about? Is this what PBS supports? Is this a balanced and international viewpoint presentation of what America should stand for? Is this lifestyle and worldview what young Americans should strive to emulate? Navy? Marines? Military Industrial Complex. Unfocused youth. Confused foreign policy. You've lost a lover of the old PBS.

Paul Bhorjee, Bethesda, MD

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My family and I have enjoyed the series Carrier so much. It is a brilliant show and I will be sad to have it end. It is entertaining and informative, and from the opening moments, so very engaging. It is wonderful.

B. Rose, Stratton, ME

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This is not the kind of programming I would choose to support. While it was interesting, engaging and like watching a soap opera, or reality TV as a Salon.com reviewer suggested. To me, it was ultimately propaganda for the Navy. If this boat is part of Iraqi Freedom, then show us Iraq. Show us what war really looks like. Show us our soldiers injured, dying, being transported back home in body bags. Show us the crying, terrified children, whose parents have been killed, whose homes are blown up, whose families are torn apart. Show us the largest immigrant crisis in the world, caused by the US invasion of Iraq. Show us what war really looks like. Carrier missed the mark and sank under the weight of its own message.

Cynthia Smith, Portland, OR

Perspective is all about Viewing Angle!

By the way, if you missed any of the series it is all available online at http://www.pbs.org/weta/carrier/ .