The Washington Post
By Alyssa Rosenberg
April 15, 2015
War is a grim business, but the messages at the kickoff of the ninth annual GI Film Festival yesterday were nothing but positive. “Our mission is to foster a positive image for men and women in uniform and to connect service members to society,”
Festival co-founder and president Brandon Millett (who described himself as “one of those curious creatures known as a male military spouse”) told a group of reporters.
Among the criteria for a film’s selection in the festival? “Do you walk away with a greater sense of appreciation and respect for what men and women and uniform do for us on a daily basis?” Millett explained.
And while the festival’s selections touch on a wide range of issues, including post-traumatic stress disorder, suicide, substance abuse and finding employment in the civilian world, “all of our films focus on inspiration and finding solutions,” his wife Laura Millett-Law, a West Point graduate and army veteran, emphasized.
Accentuating the positive makes sense, especially if you’re trying to woo an audience that feels it has been burned by mainstream pop culture in the past. But the short films Millett and Millett-Law screened for reporters provide an important reminder that inspirational messaging has its limits.
Constantly telling us that great characters and interesting scenarios are uplifting and aspirational can drown their stories in schmaltz, rather than letting them stand on their own merits.
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