Ed Burns: Generation Kill

Ever since the final series of The Wire reached its conclusion, a void has loomed large in the lives of the Maxim team. Without our regular weekly dose of Stringer, Bunk et al to look forward to, our lives have become a big, gaping hole, prompting depression, self-loathing and, occasionally, violence. It is with genuine, childlike excitement therefore that we welcome Generation Kill – the follow-up project from screenwriting supremos David Simon and Ed Burns.

Based on the book of the same name by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright, this seven-part series follows the US Marines at the  ‘tip of the spear’  of the US invasion of Iraq – the first troops to enter the region. Focusing on the everyday minutiae of life in the recon battalion unit, the show takes an intimate look at the psyche of the mad bastards who sign up to kill or be killed. It’s basically The Wire in the desert – and based on the teaser episode we saw, and the buzz coming out the States, it looks set to blow everyone away.  As the show begins airing on FX, Maxim met up with co-creator Ed Burns to find out just how the hell you go about following up the Best Television Show In History™.

‘The guys in the show need the outlet of war,’  Ed tells us, explaining the bullish mentality that powers the series.  ‘It’s in [the Marines’] genetic make-up. I’m stunned by what they’ve come to in their physical and mental toughness… they’re very focused and very deadly.’

Burns, a veteran of the Vietnam War, knows this kind of mentality all too well – and Generation Kill tries to convey the  ‘evolutionary leap in the idea of soldiering’, pointing to a culture of young men brought up with an overdeveloped capacity for combat. Just as he did in The Wire, Burns was a stickler for absolute realism in portraying real people in real situations.

 ‘We constructed this for an audience we thought of as Marines, in the same way we wrote The Wire for addicts and cops. So, would a Marine understand this? Would he appreciate this? Would he recognise this? Is this proper Marines procedure?’ 

With a team of ex-Marines acting as military advisors, Burns made sure every little detail was startlingly accurate, from the use of authentic Marines slang to making sure weapons were held in the correct way. The producers also came up with a failsafe way of getting the best from their cast. ‘We hooked the actors up with their counterparts in real life,’ he says.  ‘So they were carrying the burden of a real, living being.
A living being who can kill you if they’re not happy!’

Luckily for those involved, the end product has won the military seal of approval.  ‘I know from the screening we did for Bravo Company, they were either very pleased with it, or at least willing to admit,  “That’s who I am.”’  Burns cites Ray Person, the wisecracking driver of the battalion’s lead Humvee, as
a case in point.  ‘When Ray’s not on Ripped Fuel (a stimulant banned by the military, but commonly used regardless) he’s just an average guy.  Very bright, but an average guy. So when he was looking at it, he was like “Ooh damn, I said that!”  That was a great reaction.’

Just as Generation Kill has been championed by the people it portrays, junkies and beat cops are said to have loved The Wire’s non-judgemental approach to street life in Baltimore, with viewers unsure whether to root for charismatic drug dealer Stringer Bell or womanizing, alcoholic cop, Jimmy McNulty.

The Powers That Be however, were less impressed, criticising The Wire’s scathing view of a system letting down those it was designed to protect. Burns reflects, ‘You get a Mayor or a Police Commissioner who’ll see The Wire and they’ll say,  “It’s not really that bad. This is exaggerated, this is drama, it’s bullshit.”  The truth is that for dramatic reasons, The Wire made it less bad. You can’t show how bad it is in the ghettos because the audience wouldn’t stay with you. It’s too relentless.’

And Burns knows a fair bit about ghetto life. As well as his military service, he has also done stints as a Baltimore cop and a teacher in an inner-city school. Soldier, teacher, cop – quite a varied CV – but when we ask him which is the toughest, Burns surprises us.  ‘Teaching does the most psychological damage by far, because anytime you bring children into the mix, and you can see that they are profoundly damaged – that’s the kind of thing you can’t turn away from. Slogging through Vietnam and getting shot at is kind of physical and it is what it is. Being a cop is what it is. But with teaching, you can’t get the distance that you can in the other things because the trauma is so powerful.’

Fortunately for Burns, his previous uncompromising jobs prepared him for the classroom better than most.  ‘I was an older guy and I equate teaching to boxing. If I get the first punch in, I’m winning; if you get the
first punch in, I’m gonna have a bad year. So I came in the classroom and kicked the trashcan across the room and they’re like,  “Wow! What the hell?”  That’s my first punch, that’s me getting on top of them. If not, you just won’t make it.’ 

With a similar level of intensity channelled into Generation Kill, we’re betting Burns will soon have another hit on his hands.