The other four branches, Army Navy, Air Force, and Marines seem to get a lot of love from the cinema, TV, and literature. Why is that? Lack of advertising funds? Lack of recognition from the public? Or are they (as unlikely as it sounds) just not as “sexy” as the rest? My dad was a Coastie, so I may be prejudiced on this account.
The Army, Navy, AF, Marinea job in the view of the average public is to kill Johnny Foreigner. In this view Coast Guards job is to rescue strandes merchants sailors and fishermen. Which makes for the more compelling storyline?
How many people really think about the Coast Guard?
I have a Coast Guard station a few miles away from me that I pass from time to time*, but I’m sitting on the edge of Lake Michigan. Army, Marine, AF…they’re kinda scattered all over the place aren’t they? I could be wrong, but I wouldn’t think you’d find a Coast Guard station sitting on the outskirts of a random airport or in a major city like you would with the other ones…would you?
Maybe that has something to do with it?
*and even that one is still kind of tucked away and I have no idea where they do their training, but it’s not there.
Hey, The Boatniksis a classic.
I’m not a huge Tom Clancy fan, but the crew of a (fictional) US Coast Guard Cutter played a significant role in “Clear and Present Danger.”
There aren’t really any well-known historical events that bring to mind the Coast Guard.
As AK84 mentioned, their primary role doesn’t inspire compelling drama (at least relative to the other branches of the military).
Most people don’t interact with them very often, so they aren’t a group that might get stories written about them by friends or people wondering about what kind of story might be told.
An exception that proves the rule:
I mean, the dolphins were instrumental, but the Coast Guard had a cool helicopter.
(it’s the wonderfully cheesy video for Estranged by Guns’n’Roses. Axl jumps off the ship at around the 7 minute mark. The Coast Guard shows up at around 8:40)
I agree that it’s because the Coast Guard aren’t major players in foreign wars and dramatic stuff like that. They just quietly and baddassedly do their thing.
ETA: I just clicked the link to check that it worked–and the ad before the video was for the army. Yeah…probably has something to do with advertising budget too.
The Ashton Kutcher/Kevin Costner flick, The Guardian is about Coast Guard rescue swimmers, and the 2005 remake of Yours, Mine and Ours has Dennis Quad as an Admiral in the Coast Guard.
Like Tim Duncan, they’re just too good at what they do. Their job is routine, and they do it so well their best role in cinema is as the deus ex machina in someone else’s story. Good drama requires the possibility of failure, and The Guardian features the only interesting story that has both the USCG and the possibility of failure.
If a story needs a generic military presence, the Coast Guard suffers the same fate as cities that aren’t New York do when an urban setting is required. The other branches have enough mythology that introductions and explanations aren’t required. “New York City” and “The Army” are mythical tropes the audience doesn’t have to think about.
There was a reality TV series called The Coast Guard from 1995-97. The fact that neither one of us remembers it speaks volumes for it.
According to Wikipedia, Popeye briefly served in the Coast Guard, a career sandwiched by much longer stints in the Merchant Marine and the Navy.
I remember an episode of That 70s Show where Donna’s father insisted on marching in the Veterans’ Day parade in his Coast Guard uniform, to Red Foreman’s chagrin.
Another reason might be that filming at sea is expensive.
Yep, the CG are too good at what they do, they make it look routine.
OTOH, they are the service that IRL has an actual Tall Ship to train their Academy classes on, so that’s a quiet quota of awesome.
(The Navy Department has the best Hollywood agent. At times it seems like there’s always some movie or TV show in production or development featuring Navy or Marine operations or characters that are Navy or Marine vets.)
And the Weather Channel currently runs Coast Guard: Alaska and Coast Guard: Florida.
The peak moment of recent-time USCG glory was the Katrina aftermath in New Orleans, including another brief TV series in one of The [something] Channel about the rescues in that emergency. But a lot of public opinion-makers preferred to complain about how the rest of the military were otherwise occupied elsewhere – again, the chopped-liver syndrome.
And the Eaglehas a leading role in S M Stirling’s *Island in the Sea of Time *series along with its Captain and crew…
Still, as per the OP there’s no shortage of Navy love in the cinema and on television.
The Coasties have a long history of drug interdiction and otherwise apprehending smugglers. They get in enough firefights with the seagoing criminal element that they found it worthwhile to field big bore AR-15’s like the Leitner-Wise .499 LWR and the .50 Beowulf for their ability to demolish engines and penetrate level IIA body armor. A show that spins them as our national “sea cops” could be just as over-the-top action packed as Miami Vice. Smugglers, pirates, infiltrators from enemy nations…there’s absolutely no shortage of villains for such a show.
Yes, but in the case of the navy you get more BANG for your buck, making it easier to attract investment.
Yeah, I was under the impression that they are heavily involved in policing drug runners and other sea baddies. Seeing so many replies without mention of it made me suspect I was mistaken. Thank you for the confirmation (and link).
I agree there’s great opportunity there for compelling storytelling.
It’s not just in fiction. I work for a retail chain that sells, among other things, keychains and lanyards that commemorate the military. You can display your pride in the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Marines. But not the Coast Guard. Pisses me off, to be frank. These guys fight drug smugglers, defend our borders, and rescue ships in distress. Oh yeah, they can and do fight in foreign wars. I’ve been told that for pure seamanship and boatcraft, the Coast Guard Academy is the very best school in the nation. But they get no respect. I’ve taken to responding to people talking about the “four” branches of the military with “You mean the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard? 'Cuz, y’know, the Marines are actually a branch of the Navy…”
In terms of TV and film, it might also be a factor that the Coast Guard uniform is hard to distinguish from the Navy’s. Unless you had an establishing shot of the orange stripe on the ship, an audience might see any uniformed characters on a ship and assume they’re Navy. This could also apply to the U.S. Public Health Service and NOAA, which are also uniformed services.
Heh, I’m reminded of a scene in Cheers when Rebecca Howe’s dad, a Navy captain, showed up at the bar.
Cliff: Hey, Captain, y’know, Norm here was in the Coast Guard.
Franklin Howe: Well, nice to meet you, Miss.
Yea, but you can basically ignore the ocean in a lot of Navy action-scenes. Much of it is on a “bridge” set, with the crewman describing the action, and then cuts to CGI for the actual battle stuff.
The nature of the Coast Guard is that the characters are more or less required to actually interact with the water for the exciting bits. You can’t just have them standing around talking about launching torpedoes or whatever.
The coast guard is also really small compared to the other services, it is one fifth the size of the Marines, one tenth the size of the Air Force, one tenth the size of the Navy, and one twentieth the size of the Army.
This despite being one of the safest branches to serve in since if anything happens to your boat you can just wade to shore.