issue 18 // volume 43 The inconvenient truths of the War on Terror > A very late film review of ‘War Dogs’ Jan Prchal Contributor n addition to offering some decent laughs, War Dogs provides a revealing look at a subject that far too few people know about: the increased privatization of warfare since 9/1. The film focusses on two pot-smoking 20-somethings from Miami Beach who manage to land huge contracts with the US Department of Defense to provide weapons and supplies for America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration oversaw a record increase in military spending, though what a lot of people may not know is that a greater percentage of this money went to private military contractors than ever before. In fact, private military spending soared from $145 billion in 2001 to $390 billion in 2008, as explained by Guy Lawson, author of the Rolling Stones article “Arms and Dudes,’ which inspired the film. Jonah Hill and Miles Teller play the film’s arms-dealing protagonist duo, who are out of their depth in a world of geopolitics and weapons supplying, but who know how to celebrate their dirty profits through drugs, fast cars, and jokes about your mom. In addition to the comedy, the film exposes the post-9/1 world we live in. As a more recent example, a young private military contractor named Edward Snowden had access to millions of files of classified information while doing work for the NSA and he was able to leak them to the public. While the actions of Snowden and the film’s protagonists are on opposite ends of the moral spectrum, their respective accomplishments highlight the problems with private military contractors. In addition to the security risks and the ethical questions that arise from supply chain management of private military contracts, another important question is one of efficiency. The film’s protagonists joke at one point that, because they lowballed one of their contracts by $53 million, the US taxpayer would get a good deal for once. Sadly, military procurement and military contracting is often woefully inefficient, as a search for news about F-35s will quickly reveal. Whatever you may think of the use of military force, the A note on history: Turning the football field into a stage > Super Bowl halftime show history Caroline Ho Arts Editor Hore shows at the Super Bowl are at least as big a spectacle as the football games themselves. How could the largest annual TV event in the US be complete without a dazzling half-hour performance by some of the industry’s biggest pop stars? But as entrenched in American culture as it seems, the halftime show as we know it only started in the ’gos, and anyone who's ever tuned into entertainment news is probably aware that it hasn’t exactly been a smooth run. The National Football League was founded in 1920, and the first Super Bowl took place in 1967. In the first few decades of the championship game, the halftime shows consisted of performances by college marching bands and military drill teams. Family-friendly musical organization Up with People also starred in several shows from 1976-86, filling the field with song, dance, and eerily-cheery choreographed spirit. These early halftime shows were centred around a theme, often something patriotic or a tribute to some notable event. 1969’s Super Bow] III had the theme “America Thanks,” and the following year’s Super Bowl in New Orleans had the theme “Mardi Gras.” Super Bowl VI’s halftime show was themed “Salute to Louis Armstrong” the year after the jazz legend’s death in 1971, and the show featured a performance by jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. In the 80s, a few of the shows were more entertainment themed. In 1984, there was the Disney-produced “Salute to Superstars of Silver Screen,” where the University of Florida and Florida State University Marching Bands performed toa set list of movie songs. Super Bowl XXI in 1987 was a “Salute to Hollywood’s 1ooth Anniversary,’ also put on by Disney, featuring a mix of Disney characters, marching bands, drill teams, and dancers. But as fun and family-friendly as they were, early halftime shows were primarily put on for the stadium audience. Along with allowing a break for players, halftime had to keep the ticket-buying crowd entertained, and the shows were designed to be viewed from the stands. In the ’gos, the NFL finally realized they could tailor the show to a larger television audience across the country. Another Disney production came in 1991, with boy band New Kids on the Block also playing a couple of songs. However, the show wasn't actually aired live on TV— instead, ABC News aired a special report Image via wennermedia.com about Operation Desert Storm during the half-hour, and the halftime show was broadcast after the football game was over. Then in 1992, pop singer Gloria Estefan took the stage, accompanied by Olympic figure skaters Brian Boitano and Dorothy Hamill. However, the televised airing of this show also suffered its setback: Rival network Fox, in a deliberate attempt to steal viewers, aired their own halftime show, a live episode of the comedy sketch series In Living Colour, during the exact same half-hour slot. Fox even had a clock onscreen to count down the minutes until the football game resumed. In a news release prior to the Super Bowl, then-Fox president Jamie Kellner said he believed the “traditional halftime show is designed for the stadium audience” and “doesn’t translate well to television,” hence Fox’s offering of their own program. arts // no. 7 Image via Green Hat Films increasing privatization of the military hurts you as a taxpayer, if nothing else. In brief, the guy who made the Hangover trilogy surprises with a half-decent comedy that touches on an under- reported issue continuously affecting the world today. Hopefully this retroactive review has convinced you of some of the comedic and informative merits of War Dogs, a decently fun flick that might have slipped under your radar last year. To prove Fox wrong, the NFL retaliated by having none other than Michael Jackson perform at Super Bowl XXVII the following year. The NFL was determined to make their show be the show, and having the biggest star in the world on the Super Bowl stage worked. It seemed like the mid-game intermission should have been secured for pop music. But then in 2004 there was the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the song “Rock Your Body” when Justin Timberlake exposed one of Janet Jackson’s breasts for half a second. Media pounced on the mishap, and it became the most sensational entertainment news story of the year. After the huge controversy and media storm that arose, the NFL decided it was time to go back to safer shows, and the next few years featured classic rock acts including Paul McCartney, the Rolling Stones, and The Who. It wasn't until 20u that pop returned to the Super Bow] stage, with a performance headlined by the Black Eyed Peas. In the last few years, halftime has basically regained its reputation as the biggest televised pop music show in America. Aside from Katy Perry’s hilariously meme-worthy “left shark” incident in 2015, when one of two backup dancers dressed in a shark costume seemed to be dancing totally out of sync from the other, nothing too noteworthy has taken place. The halftime show at Super Bowl LI, taking place in Houston on February 5, will be headlined by Lady Gaga. If it follows the trend of the last few years, over 100 million televisions in the US will be tuned in to see if anything new happens in the saga of Super Bowl halftime spectacles.