The US Department of War has accused Netflix of producing ‘woke garbage’ over its latest show centered around a gay man joining the US Marines. The series, which premiered amidst a campaign by President Donald Trump and Secretary of War Pete Hegseth to end ‘woke culture’ in the military, has drawn significant backlash. The Pentagon emphasized that its standards are ‘uniform and sex neutral,’ stating that the military’s focus is on maintaining high performance and readiness rather than ideological content.
US Department of War spokeswoman, Kingsley Wilson, told Entertainment Weekly that the department does not support Netflix’s ‘ideological agenda.’ Wilson added that the Pentagon is committed to restoring the ‘warrior ethos,’ which she claims Netflix fails to comprehend. The Pentagon’s stance on ideological content has been a key part of Hegseth’s strategy to redefine military values. Hegseth recently introduced new fitness standards for military personnel, insisting on ‘male-level’ physical capabilities to prepare for ‘life and death’ situations on the battlefield.
Back in February, Hegseth dismissed the phrase ‘diversity is our strength’ as the ‘dumbest phrase’ in military history. This rhetoric has been part of a broader narrative questioning the effectiveness of diversity initiatives in the military. The Pentagon has faced recruitment shortages for years, with 2023 marking the deepest gap since the abolishing of the draft in 1973. According to a June report, the military’s recruitment gap reached 15,000, which some Republicans attribute to the department’s focus on diversity over military readiness.
Republican lawmakers have previously blamed the recruitment problem on the Pentagon’s prioritization of diversity over operational efficiency. A 2021 report commissioned by Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee found that the US Navy’s efforts were more focused on ‘wokeness’ and diversity than on winning wars. Netflix has not responded to the Entertainment Weekly request for comment, leaving the situation as a point of contention between the entertainment industry and the military establishment.