As a closeted gay teenager in the late 1990s, Andy Parker invited a Marine Corps recruiter to his house to convince his parents that it would be a good idea for him to join the military.
“I think that was me trying to prove something or escape something or run from who I was,” Parker said. His parents “weren’t opposed” to the idea, he added. “They were just perplexed.”
Parker didn’t end up enlisting, but while he was developing projects with Sony Pictures Television more than two decades later, he was sent “The Pink Marine” (2016), a memoir written by Greg Cope White, who as a closeted teen had joined the Marines in 1979.
Reading “The Pink Marine” felt like seeing “the road not taken,” Parker said. He jumped at the opportunity to adapt the coming-of-age story for the screen.
The end result is “Boots,” arriving Thursday on Netflix after years of delays from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Hollywood strikes. Parker is the creator and co-showrunner of this comedic drama, which is also one of the final series to be executive produced by Norman Lear, who died at age 101 in 2023 and who had been a mentor to Cope White for decades.
“This show was really the little engine that could,” said the showrunner, Jennifer Cecil (“The Umbrella Academy,” “Private Practice”). “Everybody believed in this show so much — and you don’t see that all the time.”
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post In ‘Boots,’ a Closeted Marine Comes of Age appeared first on New York Times.
