Don't remember where I've read this - maybe it was a recent HN comment - but it went like this: the only value of past atrocities is that they should never happen again. By being too serious about them, we're granting the much more significance that they deserve, which makes it more likely they'll reoccur in the future.

I find this an interesting point of view. That said, there's also the point to be made that portraying wars as glorious adventures, we're definitely not helping to raise a generation of people who want peace.

Come to think of it, it may be that we're not showing enough violence when making media about war. I remember watching "Saving Private Ryan" as a kid. The opening scene of the Operation Overlord shook me very hard. Since then, when I think of war, in my mind I have a picture of young people dying horrible, painful and pointless deaths, crying out to their parents and God as they hold their own guts in their hands. I think this level of graphic presentation may be needed to really drive the point home.