I was watching that TV show on PBS tonight, and the did a segment on an Iraq War veteran who had the left hemisphere of his brain blown off, leaving a giant wedge shape where the left half of his cranium should be. To the credit of the medical professionals of the armed forces and Veterans Administration, this young man is still alive, although little more than a wheelchair bound man in a semi-vegetative state.
Two broadway actresses acted out a couple of monologues based upon writing or interviews with this soldier’s mother and sister, and then they went out into the audience and greeted the family, who was on-hand to see this spectacle.
Next up, a singer came on-stage and sang “Somewhere,” from West Side Story. Periodically they’d flash the veteran up on-screen, where he was sitting in his chair, head cocked back, “looking” at the sky and mindlessly chewing something.
This all just seemed to be far too over the top. There was a montage of limbless soldiers and marines receiving physical therapy, learning to walk with prosthetics, with family, etc.
I honor our veterans. Heck, I am one myself. But this show just seemed really exploitative.
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