In the first episode of “Boots,” arriving Thursday on Netflix, a Marine recruit named Cameron Cope spots a list posted at boot camp. “The following will result in penalty,” reads the heading on that list. The second item on it: Homosexuality.
The year is 1990, and Cope, played by Miles Heizer (“Parenthood,” “13 Reasons Why”), is a young gay man terrified of being outed in this aggressively homophobic environment. That’s the setup for this sensitively crafted military dramedy based on the memoir “The Pink Marine” by Greg Cope White, who is also a writer of this adaptation.
It’s hard to imagine a more timely moment for these eight episodes to land. Last week Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told senior U.S. military leaders to reconsider any training or standards enacted since 1990, which have included measures to protect the rights of women, people of color and L.G.T.B.Q. people in the armed forces. “Boots,” created by Andy Parker and executive produced by the late Norman Lear, focuses on anti-gay prejudice in particular but also does a thoughtful job of highlighting the wider inequalities of the era.
All the usual hallmarks of stories about Marines-in-training report for duty here: the obstacle course montages, the apoplectic drill sergeants, the shouts of “oorah!” But the show also burrows into the demanding day-to-day realities and sacrifices of military life in fresh, nuanced ways.
Heizer is wonderfully vulnerable in the role of Cameron, a “weakling” who slowly begins to discover his own strength in a place that wouldn’t want him if his true identity were known. His brothers in arms bring their own baggage to serving their country, teased out in flashbacks that explain what motivated them to enlist.
Vera Farmiga, the best-known member of the cast, plays Cam’s mother, a fascinating if underdeveloped character who is simultaneously warm, calculating and negligent. When Cam tells her he has signed up for boot camp, she thinks he has joined some sort of club. “Just stop for milk,” she says when he says he is leaving home for good.
Without being heavy-handed, “Boots” consistently undercuts macho clichés about the Marine Corps. Even some of the needle drops, including “Fast and Frightening,” a 1990 scorcher by the all-female alt-rockers L7, emphasize that toughness is not synonymous exclusively with masculinity. The show demonstrates that individuals from all sorts of backgrounds potentially have a place in America’s military and, by extension, America itself.
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