Views on the Vietnam War Expressed in the Films "The Ugly American" and "The Green Berets"

Of crucial importance is the different attitudes between Nguyen and Quang has towards the Vietnam War. Nguyen represents the traditional view that the Vietnam War was a failure on the part of the Americans, a mistake and pointless war that ruined the lives of many. What is surprising is Quang’s view. With an immediate and loud retort to Nguyen’s negative feelings towards the Vietnam war, Seol’s portrayal of Quang immediately grabs the audience’s attention. Quang is grateful for the Vietnam war, and “thankful for the American soldiers that gave up their lives so [he] could live.” Actor Seol aptly captures the spirit and sentiments of an actual Vietnamese refugee, and in doing so provides a refreshing and different perspective about the Vietnam War. Faced with these differing perspectives, the audience must come to realize that America is not a monolith, but instead composed of people from many different backgrounds with varying experiences, attitudes, thoughts, and

Secretary of State John Kerry once said “I saw courage both in the Vietnam War and in the struggle to stop it. I learned that patriotism includes protest, not just military service.” The Vietnam War was a conflict that lasted from 1956-1975 which the United States participated in along with the South Vietnamese who fought against the Communist North Vietnamese. Many Americans strongly disapproved of the war which caused many protests and riots. The war lasted 25 years killing many people and eventually the North Vietnamese won. The Vietnam War was important to Americans back home because it tested the citizen’s right to free speech, effected future foreign policy, and created many issues for returning veterans.

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

“If I truly believe the war is wrong, is it then also wrong to go off and kill people? If I do that, what will happen to my soul?” (pg 60). Tim O 'Brien is an American man who was drafted into the Vietnam War. O 'Brien is not a violent man and struggles because he believes that the war is wrong. He debates whether or not he should go to war or move to Canada to avoid the draft. Tim O 'Brien decides to join the army. O 'Brien uses his personal experiences as a foot soldier in the Vietnam War to convey his possible bias perspective that the Vietnam War was a waste of people 's lives and a shameful venture for the United States.

The Vietnam war was an absolutely brutal time in American history. The war lasted for the majority of the 1960s and left many young men dead. The short story “The Things They Carried” by Tim O’Brien and the film Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam give us just a glance into the war by giving using the three themes of fear, pressures, and blame/guilt to embody the concept of war and how it absolutely changes a person. War not only destroys countries, but it destroys people.

Vietnam was an entirely new type of war for the United States. It still remains morally and historically problematic in today’s society. The Vietnam War had a tremendous impact on American society and culture, primarily because it was the first war to be televised. The American press played a significant

The war in Vietnam was a war against communism that tore apart the US. The United States of America plunged together with its allies and played a tremendous role as far as fight against communism is concerned. A huge number of American soldiers were deployed in Vietnam a practice that coupled with much unpreparedness. The soldiers were not aware what exactly they were up to in Vietnam. Most Americans at the time were very much against the act. It was one of the most deliberating wars America plunged herself into and the only one to have been lost. Most intriguing is the amount of publicity and media buzz created by the film industry. Vietnam War was the topic of many television networks, music and Hollywood. Journalist and veterans and scholar were never left behind and went ahead to produce tones of literature on the legacies and lessons to be learnt from the war (Hochgesang, Lawyer, and Stevenson). The exploitation of the soldiers and rejection of the veterans created just as much interest as the war had created. One such commentary came from George Kennan, who depicted the war as one of the most disastrous mission The United States has ever undertaken (Westheider 155-159).. This essay will establish the effects the war had to the US soldiers.

“The war in vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit.” Martin Luther King, Jr. once said. The Vietnam War was considered one of America’s greatest defeats of all time. Not only did the US failed to stop the spread of communism, but they also embarrassed this country as a whole with the outcome of this war. The overall outcome from this war will be remembered for years to come. In this essay, I will be talking about how the United States would have won the Vietnam war if the home front was for the war, if the the US was more familiar with the land, and the U.S.’s goal was not successful.

The Vietnam War was a prolong struggle of communist faction forcing unification of north and South Vietnam. To prevent the spread of communism the United States allied with the South Vietnamese to fight back against the communist faction. The Vietnam War span over 18 years it was apparent that there was no way in winning the war. The U.S leaders lost the support of the American people in fighting a war we can’t win. The U.S leaders thought up and created an elite peace keeping force called the Green Berets. The Green Berets gained a lot of attention to the media through books, music, and movies. A compilation of short stories of the Vietnam War by Tim O’Brien is one of those books. In Tim O’Brien book

The Green Berets is would be classified as a pro-war film depicted in favor of the American troops. The Green Berets, contrasts the harshness and brutality of the Vietcong with the generosity and inherently good nature of the Americans in treatment od child, women and men. On the other hand, Apocalypse Now may be categorized as both a pro-war movie and an anti-war movie because the film both reveals and conceals political and national ambivalence towards the Vietnam War. Therefore this film is not overtly antiwar, but it takes pains to reveal the atrocities of a war fought by America in the name of democracy and freedom. For example, in the air strike, sampan, and bridge scenes, the film clearly depicts the death and destruction that result directly from U.S. involvement; instead of helping innocent civilians, American troops kill them. They are strangers in a strange land, yet they act as if they own it, staking out territory and firing without provocation. Also, while the Vietnamese are fighting for their homes, American troops are fighting to go home—and home, to them, is a combination of surfing, Playboy Playmates, and psychedelic rock. These values are

The Vietnam War was marked by brutality, death, protests, and psychological tolls. No war caused such great division among the American people like the Vietnam War. The war was extremely costly, and it left long-term effects on people all over the world. As a whole, the American people agree that the Vietnam War was a waste of time, money, and life.

Not only were American soldiers "well muscled" and "athletes," (191) but some of them were black. Whites were not particularly strange, as Vietnam had been under French rule, but blacks must have been something of a frightening, unfamiliar novelty. This too is reflected in the text. When Kien and Hoa encounter an American platoon in the jungle, the blacks in the platoon are the first thing Kien describes, after describing "what was not a man, but a tracker dog as big as a calf." (189) And when the soldiers smoke rosa canina, one of the things they hallucinate is "groups of headless black American soldiers" right along with hallucinations about fantastic creatures and extinct animal species. With these counterpoints to the American views of Vietnamese soldiers, an American certainly gets a different picture of the war.

The film “Hearts and Minds” by Peter Davis was made in 1974. Peter Davis truly scrutinized the Vietnam War in this film along with the involvement of the United States. Throughout the film Davis interviews many people about their true opinions and views of the war and the United States involvement. Peter questioned commanders, civilians, soldiers even a bomber pilot (Randy Floyd) and more in the film. The experiences of these people were also mentioned during these very private interviews. As you watch the film you indeed recognize how the people that are very strongly against the war are portrayed much more favorable than those who encouraged it. It is important to emphasize that the title of Peter Davis’ film “Hearts and Minds” was inspired by how the president during this wartime, which in fact was Lyndon B. Johnson, announced that ultimately the victory in the Vietnam War was dependent on the United States military winning the “hearts and minds” of the Vietnamese people.

Since 1968, there have been at least 25 films made that portray the events of the Vietnam War. Historians have to ask themselves when watching these films, "Did the fictional character represent historical figures accurately? Is this how a soldier would react in this situation?" The point of view of the director of the film can change with simple alterations in camera angles. For example, a view from the ground of a battle seen can show how the innocent people had the war in their own backyards. The view from a helicopter can show Viet Cong firing rounds at American troops and the troops can't tell the difference between the innocent and the enemy. The audience feels empathy and sympathy for the person from whose point of view the

The Vietnam war was a major event to America because it had major conflicts with personal opinions of the people of 1960’s. In this era, plenty of people were rethinking on why they were fighting in a war that they did not need to be fighting. and joined the anti-war movement. This can explicitly be seen from the type of music that people were listening to at the time. The song that I am going to be analyzing is “Paint it Black” by the Rolling Stones. This song resonated with the persona of the people for multiple reasons because it was a song that was about losing a loved one and dealing with the sadness.