I think that some of the criticism of the series was down to the audience being weaned on the image of magnificently brave, polite and self controlled individuals being the norm for personnel serving in these violent, dangerous and frightening conditions. Piece of Cake took the opposite tack and simply showed that kids, and let’s face it most of the fighter pilots of the period were just that really, were having to cope with stresses and threats far beyond what the target audience could conceive. Stiff upper lip, jolly japes and calm acceptance of danger might have gone down a treat amongst the war film audience of the post-war period but Piece of Cake appeared at a time when TV coverage of modern war was normal and immediate (that’s why the Vietnam War drew such opposition). The audience may not have been in a jungle or desert somewhere being attacked or amongst the attackers but they could see the blood and therefore the psychological effects on those who were the participants.
I enjoyed Piece of Cake simply because it cut to the truth of the inexperience of young kids adjusting to fast fighting machines and their complexities; the often less than stellar performance of peace time officers thrust into commands that they were ill-equipped for; the numbing boredom and mistakes of the Phoney War and the sudden shock of reality when the Germans attacked in the west and Dunkirk then the desperate days of the Battle of Britain. Of course these young pilots were not going to react in any other way than being almost overwhelmed by events with which they struggled to cope.
The published memoirs and the various histories of the period show that the pilots of Fighter command were not 100% perfect and that some were arrogant fools, some were cowards or personally ill-disciplined. But on the whole the majority, no matter how they managed to cope, lived and died in a manner that did ensure victory. Piece of Cake despite the necessities of dramatic licence shows how they did that and while it mightn’t at times be what we expect, or pleasant, I think it comes close to the truth. Heroes don’t wear white hats and behave like saints, they’re just ordinary imperfect human beings upon whom fate suddenly drops a load of trouble.
Hero’s don’t always win.
Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back is considered by some as the best of the series despite the Empires winning. This years Avengers: Infinity War also saw huge losses in the heroes of the story, which stunned audiences. It made huge amounts and I suspect will go on to become a landmark in story telling.
I saw entire PoC on tape about 15 years ago, and while excellent story telling and character’s, it was also incredibly draining. The loss of nearly all the characters as the story develops and concludes really made me feel the hardship of those insanely brave pilots.
But I saw a parallels in an Japanese anime too, the series Macross and Gundam had major characters who looked to be regular be suddenly killed, or in one scene a growing foreboding of “something bad” going to happen (he died very dramatically for a “cartoon”).
The criticism you speak probably is not the somewhat motley heroes being killed off, but that they where proxies of real heroes that in our hearts we idealizes and impart angle like immortality (not that it is wrong, mind you).
For they have slipped the surly bonds of Earth, and touched the face of God. Least not sully them. (paraphrased Magee)
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