Vietnam and its History with Hollywood

Article by Marcus Clark. Edited by Amy Calladine. Additional Research by Helen Midgley.

In total there have been 56 films about the Vietnam War, either as the subject of the film or integral to the plot or story. Out of these 56 there are a number that shine through and illustrate the effective transfer of the Vietnam War onto the silver screen. For example: ‘The Deer Hunter’ (1978), ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979) directed by the great Francis Ford Coppola of Godfather fame, ‘Platoon’ (1986), and ‘Full Metal Jacket’ (1987) directed by Stanley Kubrick, another legendary director of post war cinema. ‘Apocalypse Now’ is in my opinion the best film made about Vietnam and arguably the greatest war film to date with memorable uber quote, “I love the smell of napalm in the morning”!

It’s fair to say that it’s unlikely that the average movie loving Joe will do extensive background reading before watching any of these wondrous films about Vietnam. How sure then can we be of an accurate representation of the Vietnam War without either being there ourselves or talking to someone who was? There is no doubt that these films create a realistic representation of war itself, that’s not disputed, but do films about the Vietnam War create subtle myths and beliefs that are in fact untrue?

It’s been widely acknowledged that it was not until ‘The Deer Hunter’ that Hollywood began to break from its shackles. However, this and a number of other films such as ‘Taxi Driver’ (1976), and ‘Coming Home’ (1978) tackled the Vietnam War as a subject by primarily focusing upon the veterans themselves. This first wave of acclaimed films on the Vietnam War usually focus upon the reintegration of veterans into society and the emotional and mental effects of the war upon their well being. The veterans are often portrayed as deranged and emotionally unstable, with an air of disillusionment, guilt ridden with the war and their country. This is unmistakeable in both ‘Taxi Driver’ and ‘The Deer Hunter’ and even ‘Apocalypse Now’ rests upon the shoulders of a breathtakingly terrifying performance from Marlon Brando. However, FACT ATTACK! in a speech by General William C. Westmoreland at the third annual reunion of the Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association (VHPA) it was revealed 91% of Veterans said they were glad they served and 66% said they would serve again if called upon.

Later films in the late seventies and early eighties are also responsible for the creation of popular false beliefs. ‘Platoon’ contains instances of U.S soldiers committing war atrocities and ‘Casualties of War’ (1989) is based on the incident on hill 192 in which American soldiers kidnapped and gang raped a Vietnamese woman. While these soldiers were dishonourably discharged they constitute a minority. 97% of Vietnam Vets were honourably discharged, the same percentage of honourable discharges as ten years prior. However this should be taken with a pinch of salt, of course there would be some instances in which they never would have been reported or discovered. Another myth is that a disproportionate amount of African Americans were killed, in ‘Platoon’ this can be found in the dialogue of the soldiers and in ‘Forest Gump’ (1994), Mr Gump has an encounter with the Black Panthers who forcefully lecture him on the oppression of the black community through the Vietnam War. The Combat Area Casualty File which is the basis for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (The Wall) reveals 88.4% of men who actually served in Vietnam were Caucasian; 10.6% (275,000) were black; 1% belonged to other races. Out of which 86.3% of those who died in Vietnam were Caucasian and 12.5% were black; 1.2% belonged to other races. While this may not in fact be a myth created by Vietnam War films there is certain contention that they reinforced the idea.

The Vietnam War helped shape the stereotyped image of the sixties; grass roots movements such as the Civil Rights and student movements as well as the emergence of militaristic groups such as the Black Panthers. At first, movie moguls didn’t see the unpopular war translating into a box office hit and Hollywood seemed to stick to its trend of aversion to controversial topics. Thankfully after the phenomenal ‘Deer Hunter’ Hollywood broke free from its constrictive shackles, free to spread its sheer liquid wonderment all over bright and shiny silver screens. There is no doubt that films about the Vietnam War are entertaining, to say otherwise would be madness. While it’s clear in some instances they help to support stereotypes, they should be taken for what they are; simply good, well done, and pat-on-the-back, brilliant cinema. ‘The Deer Hunter’, ‘Apocalypse Now’, ‘Full Metal Jacket’ and ‘Platoon’ are glowing examples of war and its transfer to film, if you haven’t seen any of these then you should right this terrible wrong immediately and set your 1000 yard stare to your own personal little silver screen.

*****

The Vietnam War was as much a war of realities as of myths. Between 1945 and 1975 the Vietnamese fought for independence while the Chinese, French and then Americans fought for influence.

This was the first properly televised war: photographic journalists brought the war into the homes of civilians in the United States and across the war: it can be argued that this tradition of recording has been the inspiration behind so many films of the Vietnam War.

The war resulted in the deaths of more than 2 million Vietnamese and more than 58,000 Americans.

The average age of servicemen was just 19.

The film Platoon, released in 1986, was based on the first-hand experiences of its director Oliver Stone. The film’s tagline is typical of the imagery promoted by many of the Vietnam War films: “The first casualty of war is innocence”.

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