How was opposition to the Vietnam War portrayed in contemporary literature, film and popular song? - page 4
Keywords: gcse history coursework question one 1 vietnam war portrayed literature film song
By exploiit on 19/06/2010
Level: GCSE Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11)
Page Number: 4 of 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
in later years Hollywood began to adhere to the changing attitudes in regards to America's involvement and so many films proposing opposition began to surface. Probably one of the leading movies of the time was 'Apocalypse Now' (1979) which follows Captain Willard ho has been sent on a mission to Cambodia to assassinate a renegade Green Beret, General Kurtz. The high level of brutal scenes used throughout the movie showcase America’s often ruthless tactics. One memorable example is a scene in which a young girl, cycling her bicycle with a puppy in her basket, gets shot. The US soldier believes that this little girl was a threat and so in a paranoid and distraught state mindlessly began to fire. This blatantly shows both the fear and delusional nature of the American soldiers as they see even an innocent young girl as a threat. The clear desensitization of the American soldiers furthers the level of opposition. When Captain Willard tells of how the soldiers 'tear 'em in half, then give 'em a band aid,’ we realize that the soldiers show no remorse for their vulgar actions. We also see the soldiers' association between bloodshed and victory when Lt. Col. Bill Kilgore says, 'Nothin' else smells like that, I love the smell of Napalm in the mornin'... Smelled like... victory, this is yet another example of how hostility was commonplace.
Full Metal Jacket is a film also efficient in showcasing the negative repercussions of the war in Vietnam. It follows the adventures of a number of American troops in their conquest for ‘freedom and democracy’. It focuses ultimately on the detriment of their mental selves and the general desensitization that many soldiers faced when serving in Vietnam. We trace the gradual deterioration of their mental states throughout the film, like when we hear a conversation between two troops, ‘How can you shoot women and children? / Easy… You don’t lead them so much (laughs)’. Their heightened sense of paranoia becomes very apparent when we realize they believe ‘Anyone who runs is Vietcong. Anyone who stands still is well-disciplined Vietcong’. Clearly the decline of their conscience is evident as they ‘wanted to be the first kid on [their] block to get a confirmed kill’.
Another fine medium to present ones ideas and opinions on the occupation of Vietnam is that of literature. Veterans were often found to produce poetry reminiscent of their time
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