Forum:MGS franchise's portrayal of soldiers

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of the MGS franchise and I love the games, but I think MGS' portrayal of soldiers as "tools of the government" is quite disrespectful toward soldiers in real life. The way Kojima makes it sound, people join the military simply to serve their government's will, when in RL that simply isn't the case. People join for various reasons, such as national pride, economic gain, the natural urge to protect loved ones, etc., etc.. It seems apparent to me that Kojima may not have a complete grasp of the many reasons one could have for becoming a soldier and sees fit to demonize it. I'm not saying there should be US Army or J-SDF recruiting posters on the walls in an MGS game or anything like that, but on a personal level I think Kojima has a negative attitude toward soldiers.

The same thing goes for the contractors (aka "mercenaries") in MGS4. They're portrayed as bloodthirsty killers, when that isn't necessarily the case in RL. Sure, there are bad apples, just like in the state military, police force, and even the cub scouts. But this doesn't go for every single person in the business, does it? Meryl, and by extension Kojima himself, claims the contractors in MGS4 fight merely for the highest bidder, not out of national pride or anything like that, but I ask you this: How exactly is she supposed to know why they fight? Is she psychically connected to them to the point that she knows their reasons for doing anything? No, she's not. The fact is that she (and also by extension Kojima) does not and cannot understand one's choice for joining an organization like Blackwater/Xe or Triple Canopy, and so hypocritically applies her own sense of morality to others' choices in order to demonize said choices. Ghost Leader