Political Communication in Oliver Stone’s Platoon and JFK Essay

In the movie Platoon, the author, Oliver Stone, tells us a story about an American soldier in Vietnam during the war. The story is mostly based on his own experience when he went there. Even though the story is fictional, he keeps it really realistic and the more close possible to what was reality in Vietnam. He shows how that war was hell for the soldiers we sent there and also for the local population. Oliver Stone produced Platoon to show his disapproval of the war in Vietnam, because that war harmed the American soldiers that went there and also the population that they were supposed to protect. To deliver his political message, Stone used different elements of a movie like the structure of the plot, cinematic techniques and

For countless of people today, the Vietnam war is just something from the past, but for Tim O’Brien, the Vietnam War will endlessly be with him. This one year in Vietnam changes the lives of this platoon from emotional pain, physical pain, as well as muscle pain will commence to cloud their vision. The weight of the things that they carried takes great effect on them that they have to continue to endure on this one year trip in Vietnam and remember these memories for the rest of their lives..

This happens in real life and it’s important to help people understand it. One of the best examples is Barnes who goes completely out of his mind with power and trying to constantly be in control. One similarity that stuck out was that they both have the cruel and inhuman village raids. These were honestly hard for me to watch in Platoon. Although I support the military, I personally hate war, so seeing people die for no real reason is hard for me. Platoon shows American soldiers mercilessly killing people and burning a village. They also both describe the awful conditions in Vietnam. Horrible heat, scary noises, and lots of bugs are all described in the novel and in the book. He made it very easy for you to visualize and almost put yourself in their shoes in

When Richie first arrives in Vietnam, he befriends Harold “Peewee” Gates and Jenkins, two new recruits assigned to the same squad. A sergeant assures them that they should encounter only easy, light work, as there is

The Vietnam War was a controversial conflict that plagued the United States for many years. The loss of life caused by the war was devastating. For those who came back alive, their lives were profoundly changed. The impact the war had on servicemen would affect them for the rest of their lives; each soldier may have only played one small part in the war, but the war played a huge part in their lives. They went in feeling one way, and came home feeling completely different. In the book Vietnam Perkasie, W.D. Ehrhart describes his change from a proud young American Marine to a man filled with immense confusion, anger, and guilt over the atrocities he witnessed and participated in during the war.

O’Brien’s “Spin”, O’Brien shows the reader the good times of war. He starts off with “The war wasn’t all terror and violence.” (31) He talks about some funny stories shared within the platoon, how the men acted as a family of sorts, working together to survive. Some stories might also have a darker side or meaning to them, but he shines the light on the brighter moments in this chapter. He talks about the death of Curt Lemon, but makes it sound almost angelic the way he died, putting a spin to the story. He gives us a glimpse of how some of the soldiers acted, such as Ted Lavender being “mellow” while he was on his tranquilizers. O’Brien describes war as a “ping-pong ball. You could put a fancy

Martin Luther King Jr., one of America’s greatest civil rights leaders, was an avid protester of the Vietnam War. Claiming that it is an “enemy of the poor,” he delivered a powerful speech called “Beyond Vietnam- A Time to Break Silence” at Riverside Church on April 4, 1967. Historically, King’s speeches have been known to evoke strong emotional responses from his audience. This speech does not differ; the strong word choice and touching life stories King includes are essential in connecting with the readers.

The Vietnam War has often been characterized as the greatest American foreign policy debacle ever. American public support eroded in front of the television set nightly. The longest war in our history, divided Americans more drastically than any other event since the Civil War. After the exhausting toll on the American psyche, there was no doubt that by the wars end the nation was ready to put the Vietnam saga behind them. Still the story had to be told, and that would be up to Hollywood. Arguably one of the most compelling Vietnam movies is Oliver Stone’s Platoon (1986), which depicts his experience during the war. Unlike many previous Vietnam War films, Platoon is not simplistic involving a single one dimensional character,

In the novel telescreens are constantly expressing a running stream of mindless lies and propaganda, brainwashing the average person to be unable to recognize the evil nature of the totalitarian party. In modern society there is nearly no difference between the telescreens in 1984 and Televisions that nearly every person has in their homes today. Most television programs are run by large corporations so rather than ensure they put out images productive for society, they put out the images & stories that make them the most money. News media are also very influential in shaping public’s perception of politics through selecting and emphasizing certain aspects of issues to be presented in a way that ‘frames’ or manipulates the situation. The ultimate goal for the use of propaganda is to abolish independent thought and force society to think a certain way but it is important for people to

In this complex process certain events and information will invariably be ignored (i.e. forgotten) emphasising that the creation of memory relies both on constructive recollection and active forgetting. It is these intricate and reciprocal relationships between accepted historical discourses, cultural memory and cultural products that have informed my choice of films. Platoon (1986) and Born on the Fourth of July (1989) possess many ostensible similarities as well as distinct differences. Furthermore, and significantly, both films are based somewhat on personal memories, therefore providing valuable if divergent insights into the processes behind the creation of cultural memory, the mediation of historical discourses and the re-shaping of personal experience.

Full Medal Jacket directed by Stanley Kubrick raises questions about the Vietnam war and war in general. Kubrick opens up the film with boot camp, a majority of the film takes place with boot camp because Kubrick wants the viewer to be mindful that the boot camp that was taking place was to prepare you to be a killer. Almost like a psychological preparation to kill. Boot camp was so intense that it broke down all of the moral human bonds the soldiers once had before they joined the army. As most people know before boot camp you are sent to get your head shaven because its cleaner and less of a hassle. Kubrick has all the men lined up taking orders from Gunnery Sergeant Hartman who is basically bad mouthing all the men lined up teaching them how to have a hard heart such as "I don't like the name Lawrence, only faggots and sailors are called Lawrence. From now on you're Gomer Pyle. Sir, yes, sir. "

Director Randall Wallace uses the film to point out characteristics of the Vietnam War. One thing he tries to focus on is that fact that the United States did not realize the magnitude of the fight they were about to join. When they are first dropped in to the Ia Drang valley they capture the NVA lookout and ask him where his men are. They are shocked to learn that there are 4,000 NVA soldiers waiting for them in the mountains. The lookout also tells them that, “It's same army that destroyed French. They want to kill Americans very badly... but they have not been able to find any yet.” This quote shows that the NVA Army has been fighting for much longer and are more invested in the fight than the Americans were, something that was not clear to the original American troops.

Propaganda is performed through print, audio, and visual mass media. It is used for the promotion of the public’s activities in their life such as purchasing goods through market propaganda, and it is also found in politics, foreign affairs, and in many other fields. Most importantly propaganda is depicted in the informercialization of the news, which is connected with subliminal advertising and commercialization of public events and individual promotion such in communication websites. However, there is great debate over propaganda and persuasion that is casted in the media, which I will be elaborating in this essay.

The 1986 Oscar winning film Platoon (Stone) is a classic example of this genre and why it is so popular. As such, Platoon is a fictional work that follows Chris Taylor, a young American who gives up college and volunteers for combat duty in Vietnam. Following Taylor’s tour of Vietnam, the film’s main focus is not only his life during the war, but also the mortality issues he must find a way to deal with. Furthermore, Platoon includes all four of the narrative elements necessary to fit into this genre.

“A lie told once remains a lie but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth” – Joseph Goebbels, German Reich Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. This is the exact words of Nazis most famous propagandist in using media as a mass weapon of propaganda and mind control. Could you imagine Germany in 1930s, without Television channel, without the Internet, without every mobile device in your palm, what channel of information will you get? Of course, newspapers, flies, images, celebrities were used as tools for propaganda purposes, designed to provoke a reaction, and ultimately, a form of control over their citizen. Nowadays, with all the advanced of technologies, information can reach everyone in every corner of the Earth, the message is delivered in the subtlest ways, without people’s conscious, has shaped everyone’s decision, or at least shape their behavior toward the decision that the orchestrator want the audience to perceive. With the booming of internet, information sharing seamlessly, we must ask ourselves, the role of media in conveying, shaping the society that we are living in. Let look at few examples of U.S propaganda machine, and later, the particular case of fish sauce in Viet Nam back in October 2016.