\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess we have to give some credit to the Pentagon there, don\u2019t we?\u201d says Andy Parker,<\/strong> cheekily. His Netflix series Boots<\/em>\u2014which follows a closeted teen in the 1990s as he enlists in the Marines\u2014has surged to the top of the streamer\u2019s charts since its release on October 9, peaking earlier this week as the No. 2 most-watched series on the platform. That might have something to do with the fact that the Pentagon released a statement on October 16 shading Boots,<\/em> calling it \u201cwoke garbage.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cUnder President [Donald]<\/strong> Trump<\/strong> and Secretary [Pete] Hegseth,<\/strong> the US military is getting back to restoring the warrior ethos. Our standards across the board are elite, uniform, and sex neutral because the weight of a rucksack or a human being doesn\u2019t care if you\u2019re a man, a woman, gay, or straight,\u201d said Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson.<\/strong> \u201cWe will not compromise our standards to satisfy an ideological agenda, unlike Netflix whose leadership consistently produces and feeds woke garbage to their audience and children.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy Parker attends a “Boots” screening and conversation at SAG-AFTRA Foundation Robin Williams Center on October 06, 2025 in New York City.<\/p>\n <\/span>Dominik Bindl\/Getty Images.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI would be very surprised if the Pentagon actually watched the show,\u201d Parker says in response. But whether or not Trump or Hegseth have streamed the queer-boot-camp series, perhaps after a long day of very heterosexual activities like remodeling the White House and trying to make the military more buff, the administration slamming Boots<\/em> has apparently only made it more popular. (Spoilers below.<\/em>)<\/p>\n \u201cThe premise itself instigates or incites some kind of reaction or assumptions,\u201d says Parker of Boots.<\/em> \u201cWhat I would invite people to do is to watch the show, and see how they feel about the questions the show is trying to provoke.\u201d<\/p>\n The irony is that in an alternate universe, Parker might have been a drill instructor reporting to Hegseth. \u201cI had been this closeted gay high school kid, and had invited a Marine Corps recruiter to my house to talk with my parents about why I should go join the Marines,\u201d Parker tells me over Zoom. \u201cI was very actively seeking that.\u201d He ultimately decided not to enlist\u2014\u201cI was running away from myself\u201d\u2014but with Boots,<\/em> he\u2019s getting to experience what might have been.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a personal connection to the idea of a gay kid running off to join the Marines and not really understanding what that was going to do for him, or where that was going to ultimately lead him,\u201d Parker says. \u201cIt felt like this was the road not taken. This is a path I could have gone on. How would I have done?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n