Platoon - Grade: A PDF

Preview

Summary

Essay on a film called "Platoon" that is watched in class. ...

Description

America Alarcon Professor Amy Rust English 111 November 16, 2017 Platoon (1986) 1. In what specific ways is the film anti-war? Examples of anti-war happen throughout the entire movie Platoon; however, these examples start from the very beginning of the movie. The first example that I noticed was how when Chris Taylor first arrived, none of the guys were welcoming. It was obvious that no one cares about any new guys even though they will be fighting this war with them. Another example would be when one of the guys says that if you are going to be in the Vietnam war, then “It’s better to be killed the first few weeks”. This quote by the soldier indicates that these guys do not want to fight in this war and that if they get killed, it is actually a good thing. Another perfect example of anti-war in the movie would be when Junior pretends to have an injured foot to try to not fight a battle. This character sprayed mosquito repellent on his foot to try to get sent away from fighting despite how painful it would be and he could not even walk. Sergeant Bob Barnes ends up noticing that is was not a real injury; nevertheless, Junior tried to get out of fighting in this war because he does not think it is right. These are all examples of how soldiers go out of their way to try to get involved or dig deeper in this war, they do not care about the war and are very antiwar. 2. How would you describe the relationships among the characters? In your opinion, why are the characters divided? Explain and be specific. The relationship between characters tends to stay the same throughout the whole movie, very

distant. In the beginning of the film, it is addressed that no one wants to know names of the newest arrivals and they have no intention in helping them. The guys that have been there for a while do not bother learning names because they do not care, they also do not help the new guys settle in and tell them how tasks are done and completed. For example, when Taylor first got there no one seemed to care and they simple told him he had to dig a whole but did not explain to him how exactly to do it. There are different levels that we see in the film of how distant and unattached these soldiers are with each other. An example of the soldiers showing some kind of hint that they care about each other would be when they try to save each other when one is injured. When soldiers were injured and wounded bad during an ambush, no matter who it was, the guys would rush to help right away. Of course, it is their job to help their fellow soldiers; however, when it come to war, it is every man for himself and soldiers can easily not help others to save themselves. Specific characters like Sargent Barnes show the relationships with his peers a little differently and definitely more direct. Barnes calls a dead soldier's body a “lump of shit” and yells at the guys that if they mess up, that will basically be them. Also Barnes is also the reason why Sergeant Elias Grodis died because his hate and anger towards him went to the extreme. All of the characters have different relationships with each other and at different levels. 3. How does the film depict the enemy/civilians? Explain and be specific. The film depicts the encounters of enemies and civilians in a way that throws viewers off because it changes several time. I believe that the film did a good job with setting up the film where different characters treat and react to civilians and enemies differently. For starters, obviously when it comes to enemies, they want to get rid of them and kill them; however, all soldiers handle ambushes and fighting in their own way. Some soldiers do not like violence or even want to encounter the enemy. For example, when Chris Taylor was on duty in the middle of

the night to watch out for enemies, when he did see an ambush coming, he sort of just froze and waited for it to start instead of firing first. When it comes to civilians and dealing with them it definitely depends on what character we are talking about. When the soldiers went to the village, Chris Taylor started to take his anger out on one of the civilians, he beat him just to make himself feel better and just to let frustration out. Eventually one of his friends tried to get him to relax and told him they are people and Taylor yells “What about me?” to try to get him to understand that he is frustrated. Even though Taylor did hurt a civilian, he also showed sympathy for some. For example, some of the soldiers actually tried to rape a young girl and if it was not for him, they would have gotten away with it. 4. In your opinion, what do you think is the message of the film? Explain. In the end of the film when Taylor overlooking down from the helicopter he says “I think now, looking back, we did not fight the enemy; we fought ourselves. And the enemy was in us.” I believe that the message of the film is even though there is a war going on and all of the guys are fighting in it, they all have their own problems and issues that they are trying to deal with at the same time. Also, they are basically fighting themselves and them not wanting to be there but also they are fighting within themselves. Some of the guys either want to die fighting, or get hurt to be flown out of the war. To them, taking the easy way out is better because they are dealing with so much. Not only do they have problems with themselves but within each other they almost want to kill each other half the time. Taylor says that the enemy is within themselves and the whole movie this is proven because there is always conflict and clashes. No one in the movie is ever happy, whether it is with others or themselves....