For decades, the Department of Defense (DoD) has been collaborating with the entertainment industry to create TV ads, movie theater ads, comics, video games, and websites to glorify militarism to teens and young people. David Sirota, writing in In These Times,<\/em> calls it a \u201cchild-focused military-entertainment complex.”<\/a> I guess the government’s thinking is that you can’t start recruiting early enough.<\/p>\n

The products of this unholy marriage between the entertainment industry and the DoD present military service as a glorious and fun adventure. They neglect to show the realities of war\u2014real injuries, real blood, real death. They tell kids that soldiers are saving the country from \u201cterrorists,\u201d conducting humanitarian interventions, and \u201cspreading freedom and democracy\u201d around the world. They hide the truth that they are sacrificing their lives for the protection and expansion of U.S\/global corporate interests.<\/p>\n

In one of DoD\u2019s TV ads, Marines suggest being a soldier is similar to being a \u201cLord of the Rings\u201d hero who slays fiery monsters. In another series of ads shown in movie theaters, the Air Force portrays dangerous missions as exciting video games, telling kids: \u201cIt\u2019s not science fiction\u2014it\u2019s what we do every day.\u201d<\/p>\n