Socratic Dialogue Changing perceptions on war in films of the 1960s PDF

Preview

Summary

Informal essay, MLA format, discussing themes of war in Vietnam era films of the 1960s. ...

Description

Waller 1 Sarah Rose Waller Laurene DeBord-Foulk FIS 494-1001 12 Dec 2016

Socratic Dialogue: Changing perceptions on war in Films of the 1960s The anti-war movement in the 1960s marked a change in Hollywood films and its changing perceptions on war. That anti-war movement was, of course, the Vietnam War. Prior to the 1960s, films which depicted the war effort (in this case, World War Two), were prowar and pro-American patriotism. However, post-WWII witnessed a drastic change in attitudes towards America’s involvement in Vietnam that was far from positive. The revolt against the war could be the fault of the media, which televised the horrors occurring in Vietnam to the point where the American people drastically turned against it. The Americanization of Emily, directed by Arthur Hiller and released in 1964, though a film revolving around WWII, employs anti-war and anti-establishment ideas as a direct commentary to the Vietnam War, perhaps the first film of the 1960s to hold the distinction of being the first anti-war film in the Vietnam War era. Keep in mind, though the film is a satire in a sense, that doesn’t mean it wasn’t—and still is—relevant. The film introduces us to Lt. Commander Charlie Madison, a coward who portrays to us the horror and ridiculousness of the D-Day Invasion pitted against the patriotic British war widow, Emily. Through these polar opposite characters, the film discusses the ongoing discourse on the virtues and futility of war, cutting to the heart of our need for a hero and what we are willing to do to get one. In all, the film’s main premise is that the means to end war is to no

Waller 2 longer celebrate the tragic sacrifice of soldiers, who may not be willing to give up their lives for their country. At the time of Emily’s release, the war in Vietnam was not yet on the minds of most American citizens. However, the film was made less than a year after President Lyndon Johnson expanded U.S. forces in Vietnam, changing the outlook on said war. Following in the footsteps of The Americanization of Emily, anti-War films were not uncommon in the sixties. When Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde (1967) first premiered in the late sixties, the film’s antihero protagonists of two depression-era bank robbers appealed to teens and young adult audiences who had their own reasons for learning to mistrust the government, military, and police. A year before Bonnie and Clyde, there was a film called The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming (1966). A comedy film about the Cold War, The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming instead chooses not to dehumanise its enemy—the Russians—but instead depicts them just as sympathetic and humanly flawed, if not more so than the Americans. Unlike other anti-war films of the decade, the film has a Hollywood happy ending—albeit a bit contrived, that has the Americans and Russians universally unite. The Russians here are painted more comically villainous who pose no real threat, and due to this, the film may have been a decent escape for Vietnam war era audiences. In fact, because the film was released at the height of the Cold War, it was the first film to portray the Russian people in a positive light rather than a negatively stereotypical one. Sixties anti-war films like The Americanization of Emily and The Russians Are Coming would gradually pave the way for films of the 1970s, most notably The Deer Hunter (1978) and Apocalypse Now (1979). The Deer Hunter may be the first film to tackle the Vietnam War

Waller 3 seriously. Prior to its release, there were films like Dead of Night, also known as Deathdream (1974), which criticized our advances in Vietnam through a zombie flick. A soldier returning home from the war supposedly dies in battle, stalking his previous life as the living dead, but displays zombie-like symptoms eerily similar to that of PTSD. Then along came The Deer Hunter, Hollywood’s first thought-provoking attempt that directly detailed Vietnam long before Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. The Deer Hunter was shot in 1977, two years after the war in Vietnam ended. The protagonists are children of Russian immigrants who voluntarily enlist in the Vietnam War— unusual of its time— because they want to become decorated war heroes. Well, we all know about the misfortune of becoming a hero thanks to The Americanization of Emily, do we not? The heroes of our story soon find out the hard way and aren’t welcome home because it was a war no one supported. Their friends and family don't understand, they can’t assimilate, life as they know it can't return to normalcy, and they’re isolated. But these kids were only doing what they thought what was right—what Uncle Sam asked of them, and being the children of Russian immigrants, they were trying to prove they were Americans and not Communist sympathisers of the Cold War. There is the ongoing debate of whether the film presents a mere patriotic message, if it is simply irony, or if it is, indeed, a pro-Vietnam film, which caused audiences at first to react in outrage. The film is less about the war, however, and more about its direct effects on working class Russian Orthodox Eastern European immigrants in a Pennsylvania steel-town, enabling the film to become aesthetically significant in film history. But perhaps it would not have been possible if it weren’t for films of the sixties.

Waller 4 Works Cited Lopez, Kristin. ‘’The Americanization of Emily (1964).’’ Journeys in Classic Film. WordPress.com, 03 Apr. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. Greco, John. ‘’The Americanization of Emily (1964) Arthur Hiller.’’ Twenty-Four Frames. WordPress.com, 10 Feb. 2012. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. Jr., Charles Cassady. ‘’Bonnie and Clyde - Movie Review.’’ Common Sense Media. Common Sense Education, 2008. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. Ebert, Roger. ‘’The Deer Hunter Movie Review & Film Summary (1979).’’ Rogerebert.com. Ebert Digital LLC, 09 Mar. 1979. Web. 10 Dec. 2016. The Americanization of Emily. Dir. Arthur Hiller. Perf. James Garner and Julie Andrews, MGM, 1964. The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! Dir. Norman Jewison. Perf. Alan Arkin and Eva Marie Saint, Mirsch Corporation, 1966. The Deer Hunter. Dir. Michael Cimino. Perf. Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken, Universal Pictures, 1978. Dead of Night. Dir. Bob Clark. Perf. John Marley and Richard Backus, Quardent Films, 1974. Bonnie and Clyde. Dir. Arthur Penn. Perf. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, Warner Bros., 1967.

Archival Images Courtesy of Pond5.com Public Domain Usage. ‘’Vietnam War, 1970: CBS camera rolls as platoon comes under fire.’’ Public Domain Usage. Provided to the public by CBS Evening News.

Waller 5

‘’Anti Vietnam War Protest.’’Public Domain Usage. Provided to the public by The '60s (1999 TV series)....