MovieChat Forums > The Recruiter (2008) Discussion > Great film, but...

Great film, but...

posted 16 years ago by njg122-1
19 replies | jump to latest

I Don't know what to think of the recruiter himself.

FIRST...

Hats off for getting people to join the army especially during 2006-2007 when things were REALLY bad.

Plus I loved how he got the overweight kid into shape so he could join the army.

BUT...

What was with giving the sales pitch to the dead soldier's 12-14 year old brother? I mean the kid wouldn't be eligible to join the army for 4-6 years. Plus he had just lost his brother.

He should have shown some tact.

P.S. I thought the girl was using the lesbian thing as an excuse. She just wasn't cut out for the army.

[–] georgiacallie 16 years ago

Obviously he's not perfect, but I still think he's a pretty admirable guy. I think the scene at the funeral was in good intentions. Usie clearly gets very involved in the lives of his recruits. He shouldn't have done it, but I don't really think it was the most egregious act either. The recruitment wasn't really outright stated, it was more implied, and it was all done with the intention of comforting the kid/

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] nnnate_attack 16 years ago

the movie showed how vulnerable the kids were, and how immature they really are. the 17 year old honor student decided he wanted to join the army based off their commercials...so hats off to the army's marketing team for being perfectly subliminal.

1. a fat kid that used to get picked on; join the army
2. an honor student that was drawn in by the commercials--no rational justification; join the army

the recruiter himself (themselves), are bastard salesmen.

but that's just how I interpreted the documentary.

[–] skapunk2575 16 years ago

The "recruiting pitch" was not done at the funeral but rather before a Mardi Gras parade. I also didn't feel that he was trying to recruit the young man at all but rather trying to extend some modicum of support to the fallen soldier's brother.

As for the idea of the recruiter being a bastard salesman...I have known Staff Sergeant (now Master Sergeant) Usie since high school. We played football together and graduated from high school in the same year. Now, as then, he treats everyone with respect and is simply passionate about what he sees as his calling in life, to be the best soldier he can possibly be. I was a high school teacher during his tenure as a recruiter in the Houma/Thibodaux area and saw him quite often in the halls both actively recruiting and making follow-up visits to the school. He was never pushy with the students and never tried to force the decision. He was always extremely honest about what they would be getting into should they choose to enlist, something that the recruiter responsible for my enlistment into the Navy never did. What many people see as pushing or strongarming is not that at all. While this documentary did capture many aspects of the job that Sergeant Usie faced and the difficulties, not only of recruiting in general but recruiting in a small town, it did not accurately portray how he conducted himself day-to-day as a soldier, recruiter, and as a person.

[–] Tigershark286 16 years ago

The recruiting pitch at the funeral was so obvious. While watching it I was thinking is he seriously trying to recruit this kid at his brothers funeral, come on now. Of course the guy who knows him is going to have some bias and defend him. Everything he said while recruiting people I heard when I was talking to a recruiter. The "Do you know Axel Rose, Dave Thomas, etc" I heard that exact line. Then he asked would you like to travel to some countries like Europe, South America, etc. but seemed to forget Iraq and Afghanistan. He doesn't really care about the recruits either, he even admitted it in the film when he said something like I'm not here to make friends, that might come after they're in the Army. He even went out and bought a necklace and claimed it was his and he was wearing it on his first jump, I felt bad for the kid actually believing his bs. The one line though that made him a real *beep* was the mission always comes first before my family. The movie just showed how the Army is exploiting and manipulating young kids.

[–] skapunk2575 16 years ago

I have no bias for or against him. We were never friends and had very little contact with each other except for football practice in high school and the times I would see him at the school where i was teaching years later. As I stated before, what I saw of him was a person (not a recruiter) who went out of his way to be respectful to everyone he met. I'll repeat this again because obviously you missed it the first time. There was no recruiting pitch at a funeral...they were waiting for a Mardi Gras Parade to start. You know, beads, beer, drunks, boobs. The funeral was long over (the funeral was in January and Mardi Gras is at the end of February) when that encounter occurred. My point was simply that the film didn't portray him accurately. Also, his statement about not being here to make friends was taken completely in a different direction by you. His point in that statement was that while they are in the recruiting phase he's not there to be a friend. His job is to make sure they get into the Army. Once they're in and they're soldiers then they can be friends because they'll be on equal footing. As a recruiter he has to maintain some detachment from the kids that he's sending off to boot camp. It was pretty easy to understand what he was getting at with that statement. It's my opinion, right or wrong, that the bias is with you, and that bias is against the armed forces in general. When it comes right down to it every single one of those kids had to make their own independent choice, and that choice rested with them, not their parents, friends, relatives, or even with the recruiter himself. Is there salesmanship and manipulation in the recruiting process? Absolutely. At the same time, it's no worse than a salesman on a car lot trying to sell you a car for $40,000 when you only want to spend $20,000. Ultimately you have to decide for yourself and you always have the choice to walk away.

[–] nnnate_attack 16 years ago

not to drag the subject, but (I feel) there's a substantial difference in a recruiter pitching the army to a more vulnerable kid, especially the ones in this documentary that showcased everyone having some significant hardship in their life (being bullied frequently, being the fat kid, etc), as opposed to one of us, assuming no one here is a child, who understand, and perhaps (in most cases) has more experience, even from age alone, what the recruiter is trying to sell.

as the documentary also blatantly showed, the higher ranked officials weren't interested in how nice the recruiters were, nor were the concerned with recruiter-recruitee relationships, but rather the numbers on the sheet.

also, it's the recruiters job to come to work everyday and be nice with everyone; you get kids in the van with candy, not spankings.

[–] JFTheGoodMan 16 years ago

I thought the movie painted recruiters much more favorably. Granted, Usie was just one recruiter, but the biggest thing I gathered from the movie was that he genuinely cared about his recruits and wanted them the succeed in the Army. I felt like he really believed in what he was doing and showed the "right" way to recruit---put people in the right direction when they come to you and encourage them instead of just saying, "sign this and this and this and have a nice life."

As for the whole pitch he made to the kid whose brother died in Iraq, I didn't think that was in good taste but I thought it was well-intentioned at least.

[–] LoneWolfBMX69 16 years ago

What got me was the conversation before the wedding. I hope they were discussing an animal, and not how to kill a human in close quarters by stabbing them at the base of the neck then slitting there throat.

As the great warrior poet Ice Cube once said, 'If a day does not require my AK, it is good.

[–] matt_s 16 years ago

Sorry, but the kids in this movie were clearly not the brightest crayons in the box. Sure, one kid was on the honor roll, but he had the common sense of a dried up turd. Ulsie seemed to really care about the recruits, but he was still targeting the "loser" kids (for lack of a better word) to get them to join up. On top of that, the way he insulted that one kid's father behind his back in front of his son was uncalled for. How dare that father not want his son to get his legs blown off in the middle of the god forsaken desert, let alone for what he might think is an unjust war.

I was hounded by a recruiter who called constantly, lied to me and even tried to break into my house. Recruiters are the telemarketers of death.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jmota-1 15 years ago

My parent's are not rich by any means bY i Would classify them as upper middle class. When I graduated High School I went straight to college a Private University at that. My parents could afford for me to go to the school I used to get calls every day fromt the local recruiter on the phone while I was already in my 1st year in college. I told him that if I wanted to Persue a career in the military it would be post-college. Well I guess that was enough to say good bye to him. He never called again, when I gradutated College. I went to the recruiter and he advised me he only did enlisted recruiting that I would have to contact another recruiter. I contacted the officer recruiter he was even more laid back. He was kind of like "look its not easy, its not for every one, and you have to want this"... He emailed me every once in while to say hello and let me know if I was stilll interested that was it. But, my experience with recruiters have been pretty laid back. I work now as a saies man in the Financial Services and Insurance industry. And I just wanna say that if that Sgt. was in my insudstry he would be a multi-millionaire I am not kidding. He has every marketing, and sales skill down to an exact science. He could seriously teach some of my colleagues a thing or two in business.

[–] rfl23 16 years ago

I'm not sure what HBO's intention was in portraying Sgt. Usie, but if was to show him in a bad manner, then I think they did a pretty lousy job. Then again, I don't know how he really could be shown in a bad manner. But again, this might not have been HBO's intention.

The guy seems to me to be one of finest people our country has to offer - his work ethic, honesty, and integrity. He stuck by the kids the entire time (best man at the wedding, showing up at the funeral, etc.) I couldn't help but feel really sad after the entire auditorium walked out on him when he was about to give a recruitment speech. His life seems at times to be a living hell but he dosn't complain, he just does his job, and he makes time to stay close with the kids who are making a sacrifice to serve their country.

[–] nnnate_attack 16 years ago

seems to be a fairly naive perception on the recruiter...

it's his job to RECRUIT; entailing pseudo relationships that win over the kids (keyword). be it HBO's editing staff, or the reality of the sergeant's occupation, we saw that he was only able to pull, unfortunately, the more vulnerable, and often less intelligent kids.

I think that sorta voids any discretion you can have on the recruiter's integrity.

[–] badjuju_00 16 years ago

I think, on the surface, most people would believe the recruiters were painted favorably - NOT ME. If you think about it, the recruiters were just like car salesmen.

Think about the last time you went to buy a car - the sales guy tries to be your friend. He wants to know you, tell you all the cool things the car can do, joke around with you - but not too much, because he still has a car to sell.

Usie was just the same - the 'travel to different parts of the world' and 'guess which celebs were in the army' speech were so ridiculously contrived. It's just like a salesman telling you 'did you know that Kobe Bryant drives a Mercedes? Get in and feel like him'. It's just sad because the kids are too clueless and naive to realize what's going on. I was not aware of the purchased necklace, but that shows you how low Usie would stoop just to make his quota.

Usie is nothing but a salesman and he's very good at it. Whether he's selling cars, insurance, homes, cell phones, he's a good talker and good at getting naive people to see things his way and buy into his *beep*

The sad part is Usie knows his market. In a large town/city where people have options, he would not be able to pull that crap. These guys prey on small towns where people have no hope, barely a future, just to make their quota.

Did you guys recall the scene in the gymnasium where students/families were being given info on their futures like colleges and universities? The minute Usie shows up, 99% left.

[–] mr_strongo 16 years ago

what was creepy to me was how Usie was trolling the high schools and getting the high school teachers/coaches to line up impressionable 16/17yr olds. It was commendable how he became somewhat of a big brother to the kids he signed up who all seemed to be missing a male figure in their lives but at the same time it was pretty manipulative cause you know he's like that with every group of kids he finds.

Not to sound funny but he's kinda like a pimp. Befriending this soemwhat damaged kids (fat kid that gets teased, stupid kids wow'd by commercials, underpriviledged kids that need the money). Pretending to be their best friend, sending them off to war and then starting again with the next group.

[–] Verdoux-1 15 years ago

I was not aware of the purchased necklace, but that shows you how low Usie would stoop just to make his quota.

He didn't buy it. That other poster just twisted some facts to suit his bias.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] junmengo 14 years ago

agree witth jeff, bobby was the only one there to seem to have some clue of what is going on, but he joined the special forces, the guy was born to be a soldier

this is exactly the point, the army should be made of guys like him, not some overweight unsecure kid apart from high school by two weeks of BS training, and then tossed into a war with real combatents and just hope he survives

unless when you're in a world scale war like WWII the army should be made of the bobbies, not the laurens