Romanticizing World War II
Resurrecting crushes Pt. 4
I came of age in the late 90s, early 2000’s when books and movies depicting World War II were all the rage. My overwhelming teenage lust, which required several outlets at the time, attached itself to the heroic soldiers portrayed by actors like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Josh Hartnett in films like Saving Private Ryan and Pearl Harbor.
I was aware of the horrors of the war: concentration camps, the atomic bomb, D-Day, Pearl Harbor, The Blitz, etc. But Hollywood depictions allowed me to seek mental refuge from these tragic elements by focusing my horny teenage energy on sexy men in uniform and romances with life and death stakes.
It was during this time of my life that one day in an antique shop I came across a black and white portrait photo of someone I assumed to be a World War II era Navy sailor. A handsome Navy sailor.
The picture was printed on card stock and contained no information other than a serial number and a price penciled in on the back (#35 and $1.00, respectively). I bought the photo and tucked it into an album with other pictures from my youth. I’ve forgotten about the sailor over the years, but anytime I leaf through that album, I’m reminded of my crush.
The sailor must have seemed old to me when I purchased the picture, but now, he appears quite youthful: probably late teens, early 20s. He resembles a young Laurence Olivier, another of my childhood crushes, with brown hair, brown eyes, and a strong eyebrow game. His face is partly turned, casting one side in shadow, but his gaze is straight on. He has a cupid’s bow lip and a Mona Lisa expression, neither a clear smile or a frown. His intensity cuts across time and easily captured my teenage heart. I still wonder what might have happened to him.
In 2019, I visited the beaches of Normandy where the D-Day invasion occurred in France. My sister is going to be contributing a post this Thursday giving details about our trip, but I wanted to share one way the experience disrupted my romantic notions of the war. The reading that I did in advance and the bus tour we took underscored that the outcome of the war was not as inevitable as I’d always believed.
The Nazi occupation of France had been going on for years, and the German forces had strong entrenchments along the coast, which was what made D-Day necessary. The Allies’ plan for invasion might not have worked. Freedom might not have prevailed over fascism.
If the Allies hadn’t freed France, this sexy military couple might never have had the opportunity to eat at this cafe near one of the Normandy beaches:
Oh no, I’ve been distracted again!
Obviously, war and romance exist alongside each other. But focusing too much on love and sex at the expense of understanding the causes and consequences of conflict is a mistake. The happiness that comes from romance is not something that belongs solely to heroes, but structuring stories that way makes victory seem bound to happen. Which it wasn’t.
You still have that picture? I remember it, I'd love to see it one day!