In the opening moments of “Boots,” Netflix’s new comedy-drama series, we meet Cameron “Cam” Cope, an 18-year old high school graduate who is gay, loves Wilson Phillips, talks to his sassier inner self and is tired of being bullied at school and at home, where his flighty mother, Barbara (Vera Farmiga), actually tells him he should be more masculine.
“My life needs a change, sir. I wanna be somebody else,” says Cam (Miles Heizer; “Parenthood,” “13 Reasons Why” ) when a recruiter asks why he wants to join the Marines.
But it’s also 1990, a time when being gay in the military was considered a criminal offense. It’s three years before the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy is issued by the Department of Defense to halt harassment and discrimination of closeted gay and bisexual service men and women. Cam enrolls anyway, persuaded by his best friend Ray McAffey (Liam Oh), desperate for change. And change he gets.
“As a queer person, I think we have these preconceived notions about hypermasculine worlds and what I viewed the military to be, especially the Marines,” says Heizer, sitting on the rooftop of Netflix’s New York offices last week with co-star Max Parker, who plays stern drill instructor Sgt. Robert Sullivan.
In “Boots,” Cameron Cope (Miles Heizer) is a closeted gay teenager who joins the Marines after some encouragement from his best friend, Ray (Liam Oh), and a desire to become “somebody else.”
(Netflix)
That sense of what masculinity is weighs not only on Cam but also on the mixed bag of recruits and the officers whose job it is to shape them into “The few, the proud, the Marines,” to quote the iconic ad campaign.
“While it was really important that we enter this world through Cameron’s point of view and come into this military story through the unique lens of a queer character, it was equally important that we get to experience the struggle and transformation of the rest of our platoon as well,” says Andy Parker, who serves as co-showrunner with Jennifer Cecil. “Cameron is not the only one hiding something, and boot camp is the place that forces everyone to confront who they are and who they want to become.”
The eight-episode series, now streaming, is based on Greg Cope White’s 2016 memoir, “The Pink Marine,” which producer Rachel Davidson brought to the late Norman Lear and his partner Brent Miller to develop. Lear, who served in the Air Force during World War II as a radio operator and gunner, responded to the core friendship in the book between a gay and straight man (Greg and Dale in the book) in Marine training. “It was a very special and important relationship that Norman felt we hadn’t really seen on television before,” says Miller. “And as we all know, Norman loved to champion stories he felt important for a television audience.”
To create an authentic portrayal of the Marines and military life in the ’90s, the series enlisted the help of several advisors with past military experience, who worked closely with Andy Parker (who’s also an executive producer), Heizer and Max Parker. Some of their personal stories about their time in the service were even woven into the series. Here, the actors, showrunner and advisors share how their experiences came together like a platoon of new recruits.
