The Pacific

We have watched the first three episodes of the Pacific. We have the fourth in the TIVO. Thus far the show has been very good, visually very strong. The war in the Pacific is often noted as having been a different war than that in Europe. Talking with my children I have advised them that this war contained elements of racism that were not as evident in the war in Europe. Because of that this war was a precursor to the wars to come in Korea and Vietnam and recently the Persian Gulf War and the later Iraq War. When ones enemies do not look like ourselves it is easier to attach a level of inferiority to them and treat them in some ways as less than human. Certainly the Japanese considered the Americans as inferior in strength and will and treated them as such.

The show itself is what you would expect from Hanks and Spielberg. The only issue I might offer is that though episode three did more to make us " know" the characters the narrative thus far has not been as compelling as it was in Band of Brothers. For much of the first two episodes we were witnesses more than involved in the story.

It is must see television for our family and we will continue to watch it. To see how the storylines affect our two sons who are very different has been eye opening for us as well. The violence is very intense, again more so to me than what we witnessed in Band of Brothers. It is not as I tell my youngest son, a video game. It is a definitive picture of the violence, randomness and most of all confusion of war. It is not pretty