Soldier's Girl Sparknotes

The movie Soldier’s Girl is about a young man named Barry Winchell, who is a new recruit in the 101st Airborne. Once settling in, he befriends his roommate Justin Fisher who suffers from some medical problems, which he abuses prescription drugs to deal with his emotional problems. One night, Justin feels the need to take Winchell and a few others to Nashville, to a local bar that performs drag shows. At the bar, Winchell becomes fascinated by one of the drag performers, Calpernia Addams, which they hit it off and begin a relationship with one another. Justin does not like this at all, and recruits other soldiers to harass Winchell about his private life, as well as, spreading a rumor about Winchell’s affair. This is very dangerous for Winchell,

since his actions would be in direct violation of the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy.

Winchell even notices that one of his officers has been asking a lot of questions about the rumors that are going around the military station and barracks. Winchell is nervous and upset about the possible outcomes that his actions might have caused for himself. Overall, during the Fourth of July weekend, a soldier named Calvin Glover, decides to harass Winchell leading to a verbal then physical altercation, which Barry easily bests Calvin. After the altercation, Fisher provokes Calvin into taking further action, later that night, to get payback for what Winchell did. That night Fisher hands Calvin a baseball bat, and tells him that he should beat Winchell with it. Calvin proceeds to listen to Fisher, and while Winchell is asleep Calvin repeatedly strikes Winchell with the bat causing Winchell to bleed out and eventually die in the hospital. So what we want to know is what are the specific deviant behaviors in this film, and were they portrayed sympathetically or

unsympathetically?

The first deviant behavior portrayed in the movie is, Fisher’s problem with abusing his prescription medication.

He also performs a deviant act when he sexually harasses one of the transgender people at the bar the first night. In the movie, the act of dressing up and performing drag is considered a deviant behavior in many people’s eyes. The next deviant behavior portrayed in the movie would be, Winchell’s relationship with Calpernia, the drag performer that he falls in love with. Today this behavior wouldn’t be seen as deviant, but at that time this act was deviant. Another deviant act portrayed would be the rumor spreading, mostly done by Fisher, about Winchell’s affair. This had a major affect on Winchell and everyone around him. Lastly, Calvin’s violent act that causes Winchell’s death would be the last deviant act. I believe these acts were performed unsympathically, because the relationship between Calpernia and Winchell was not shown approval or in favor of by the military, or his platoon. Ultimately, Winchell dies from his injuries, while Fisher and Calvin would face trial, which they would both be sentenced to major prison time for their actions involved with the death of

Winchell.

This movie is very representative of how our society views this type of deviant behavior. Most people in our society look down upon the LGBT community and what it stands for. In my opinion, I don’t care what someone identifies them as, it’s their choice and no one should be allowed to tell someone what they can or can not do in their personal lives. In the movie, Fisher should have never started the rumor about Winchell. Winchell was terrific at his job, and was even being considered for soldier of the month. What he did in his personal time was no one else’s business. He kept it quiet, so in my opinion he hadn’t broke the “don’t ask don’t tell” policy. If anyone were at fault, it would have been Fisher since he started the drama that lead to Winchell’s death. I agree with the movies depiction of deviance. Dressing up and performing drag back then was considered to be wrong, and looked down upon by the community. Being in the army and having sexual relations with someone of the same sex was also looked down upon. I feel that the film did a great job of pointing that out, and showing the repercussions of what hate and bigotry can cause when there is absolutely no need for it. Winchell kept his personal life private, so it is sad that someone that had no involvement in this matter let his own views drive him to commit such and heinous act. The time that both men were given was deserved, especially since, they did not just kill a “gay man”, but a man who was fighting for their countries freedom so that they could have the opportunity to be whoever they wanted to be, and would not be judged.