Alarming Female

This ornamental grass grows next to my sister’s pond in Gresham, Oregon. It’s stunningly beautiful. The colors are so vibrant; every year when I return it’s one of the first things I see and it always gives me a lift. It’s called blood grass.

It’s name reminds me of a film short that played this year at Sundance, called The Grass Grows Green. The title comes from a Marine Corps marching drill–

What makes the grass grow green? BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD

From the film’s MySpace page–

THE GRASS GROWS GREEN is named for a Marine Corps chant that attributes lush green grass to the blood of fallen soldiers. The film explores the often-forgotten reality that each life sacrificed is more than just a number.

The film follows a recruiter starting to question his role in the deaths of America’s “best and brightest” as they fall in Iraq. I haven’t seen it, though it is highly acclaimed, because I avoid war films. I realize that defines me as a spoiled, insulated American. It’s available on iTunes for $1.99, and I’ve put it in my shopping cart. It’s only 19 minutes long; I can handle that.

It’s a start.

One ploy the Army is using to snare new recruits is video games. It sounds like they’re getting a little help from the game developers in the civilian market as well. One of my students posted a MySpace bulletin about a recent video game he’s playing, which appears to serve as a mouthpiece for the war machine:

This student is really a brilliant young man; a deep thinker. Not all teens question the bullshit they’re fed. Clever tactic, eh?