‘Boots’ Takes Netflix Originals Back To Their Roots In A Year Of Big Series Finales
Netflix’s latest series “Boots” is an adaptation of Greg Cope White’s memoir, The Pink Marine, which documents his time as a closeted gay man in the U.S. Marine Corps in the 90s. The Pentagon Press Secretary has labeled the series “woke garbage”, but it’s actually some of the best new writing we’ve seen from the streamer in a long time.
Before Netflix had its star line-up of mega hits like “Stranger Things” or “Squid Game”, who we are bidding farewell to in 2025, it was luring viewers away from traditional broadcast networks with low to mid-budget original series packed with emotion, fresh talent, and most importantly, brilliant story-telling. “Boots” takes us back to that bread and butter era at the very moment we need it most.
Lead actor Miles Heizer, who plays a fictionalized version of the author named Cameron Cope, is not a household name (as Millie Bobbie Brown once was), but his acting credits include well-known series and films like “13 Reasons Why” and Love, Simon.
His performance as an 18-year-old closeted gay man who joins the Marines looking for “a change” with the one friend he has come out to anchors the entire series. Through Cameron’s eyes, we see a full spectrum of masculinity, from self-doubt to confidence, mental acuity to physical endurance, friendships and self-discovery. To fully portray these dualities, the series gives us a slew of hilarious inner monologues depicted as conversations between Cameron and an on-screen twin who represents his undiluted, unhidden queerness.
The rest of the cast and character development celebrates the diversity of the military, with men from different economic backgrounds and ethnicities coming together to form Cameron’s rag-tag platoon.
The writing examines all of the different motivations the men have for joining the military, from continuing family traditions and making their fathers proud, to supporting wives and children all the way to political ambitions.
It also doesn’t shy away from the psychological journey the recruits face to prove themselves during training, or process the fact the exercises they’re completing are teaching them to “kill”, not as a simple rhetorical device their drill instructors use to motivate them, but to literally take an enemies’ life.
Cameron’s journey is further complicated by queer drill instructor Sergeant Sullivan, who is particularly hard on him but with whom Cameron develops a love-hate relationship. Sullivan’s personal struggle with hiding his sexuality in the armed forces foreshadows Cameron’s future, but together, the two teach each other about personal acceptance and belonging in a flawed but honorable organization.
This series is neither a light-hearted Disney channel original movie like Cadet Kelly nor a firefight filled military action movie like Zero Dark Thirty, and it’s for exactly that reason that I loved it so much.
It is full of complex male characters and friendships and beautifully depicts the transformation of high school graduates into Marines, their brotherhood, the personal baggage they overcome, and their journey towards increased self-esteem, purpose, and acceptance. It shows us the very best about the military, without glorifying or glazing over its true risks, dangers, or imperfections.
This is the kind of TV we dream of finding when we open the Netflix app. We can only hope they continue to lean into this kind of storytelling as their big titles continue to reach their natural conclusions.
