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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This 5 page research paper examines how films created myths concerning the U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Specifically discussed are films such as Apocalypse Now (1979) and Full Metal Jacket (1987), and the myths they created and exposed for audiences. Bibliography lists 4 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_Vietmyth.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
triumphing over the dastardly Japanese forces. However, the Korean War which followed was a muddled fiasco that became known as the first war America lost, and was, for years,
considered too embarrassing to be explored in cinematic detail, with the sole exception of the 1970 comedy-drama, M*A*S*H, which inspired a long-running TV series which lasted three times longer than
the actual war itself. A seemingly innocuous ideological conflict in Southeast Asia during the late 1950s turned into the war which would forever destroy the romantic and patriotic myth
perpetuated by both Washington and Hollywood. When the White House wished to replace military advisers in Vietnam with military troops, America reluctantly committed itself to a war in a
land its citizens knew little or nothing about. By the time the war described as "the most unpopular war we have ever fought" was finally ended by a cease-fire
in 1975, nearly 58,000 men had lost their lives and $167 billion was spent fighting a war that the American public has been struggling to understand ever since (Bryce 8A).
By the late 1970s, the first films exploring the Vietnam War appeared, which were little more than retreads of Hollywoods war cinema of old, perpetuating the myth that
American values were the primary motivation of the U.S. participation in the southeast Asia conflict. Author Richard Slotkin explored the Vietnam War myth promoted by films in his 1992
book, Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America, in which he described this myth as, "the redemption of American spirit or fortune as something to be achieved
by playing through a scenario of separation, temporary regression to a more primitive or natural state, and regeneration through violence" (11-12). Slotkin asserts that this myth stems from an
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