Mission: Get Girlfriend to watch Das Boot

[Chad]

We have all tried it, few have succeeded, it is now my turn. The weather outside is cold, there's nothing going on around campus, and my girlfriend wants me off the computer to spend time with her, and she used the term, I'll do anything. So, I suggest we watch my full-length copy of Das Boot. She agrees.


The first attempt didn't last long, she fell asleep while they were still in the bar/brothel. But this was before I could really grasp her attention to the setting. I stopped it and waited for a better day, another day when she wasn't so tired and really wanted to give it a try. Enter Today.


My second futile attempt to get my girlfriend, herein known as Jessica, to watch Das Boot seems to be looking brighter. We skipped the first 15 minutes, or the bar scene, and I discussed and shared with her the main characters that would interest her the most. These are:


The Captain aka the Old man
The Chief aka Black slicked back hair guy
The War Correspondent aka Red Hair guy who narrates the story
The IWO aka Nazi dude from Mexico
Thompsen aka red haired drunk
The young guy with the prego girlfriend aka the young guy with prego girlfriend


She loves behind the scenes stuff, so I had to inform her that though U-96 is a real boat, and some of the events are true, it's really a fictional story. I showed her various amounts of information concerning the specific boat U-96, about the Captain, and the ways of the German U-boat force in this time period.


I have to help explain a lot about how a U-boat operates. For example when they did the practice crash dive, I explained that all the available men running to the front of the boat will make the boat bow heavy, and thus make it slip under faster, theoretically. I also had to explain why aircraft were so dangerous to U-boats. She seems, mildly interested in the characters more than the plot or technical information given to us. Of course, being an English major will influence this kind of behavior.


Whenever the crew has discussions of girls, I try to extend it a bit from what I remember from the book. I also try to go into more detail why Ulmann and his girlfriend, Francois were so upset as he was leaving, that being the French resistance. She found it interesting about the anti-Facists aboard the boat, namely, the Captain. I tried to explain it as such:


He's an old man compared to the rest of the crew. He was an old sailor and loves the sea, and as such he loves beautiful ships that sail on it. It breaks his heart when he hears of destruction and sinking of ships. The old man doesn't believe in the war, much less Hitler. He knows now, that the war is lost. He isn't married, but is seeing an ex-Luftwaffe pilot's wife. “Why remain single and not womanize like the rest of his men?” she asked me. Perhaps it's the Officer and Gentleman example. Being an officer is a privilege for him, and he treats the uniform with respect. But with his love of the sea, perhaps Poseidon is keeping him and his crew safe for a greater purpose.


Of which I didn't tell her anything else. I'll disclose this reason to anyone who's interested but if she looks this up I don't want to spoil it for her.


We watched thirty minutes of it tonight. She started getting tired around the time the Captain starts making fun of Churchill and Goebbels, describing Churchill as a, “rotten pig, fat ball, paralytic.” I don't want her to miss anything so of course I offered to stop it for tonight so we can go to bed and watch some more tomorrow or another time.


I'll update this more as we watch more of it. And in the end, if this English-majored, hard headed, spoiled little girlfriend of mine likes it, I'll be a happy camper. Then maybe she can understand the brotherhood we have as subsimmers, and understand why visiting these antique ships is so important as not pieces of metal, but for the men who served on them, and should forever be remembered as heroes, no matter what side of the war they fought on, nor whether it was in a ship or a plane, a tank or a foot soldier.


All gave some, some gave all.


This is Chad signing out.