Analysis: Born on the Fourth of July
The idyllic 1950's to the turbulent 1960's represented a dynamic shift in American culture. The end of World War II prompted a boom economy and the American dream of a your own house with the white picket fence was born. Although the 50's were picturesque in some respect the end of WWII entrenched a deep fear of Communism. As America entered Vietnam the conservative ideals of the WWII generation clashed with the rising student and youth awareness. The movie, Born on The Fourth of July, represents a modern view of the Vietnam War era and the transformation that occurred through out the country with varying degrees of historical accuracy. The opening scene of the movie pictures the mood of the country in the mid to late fifties. It romanticizes war with the parade scene and the kids playing army. This plays on the theme that some war is good, or at least justifiable. Kovic, the main character of the film, is a patrotic person wanting to serve his country and believing that Vietnam would be his chance. As Kovic and his friends discuss entertaining the Marines the ideas of containment and the domino theory are discussed. The ideas of the McCarthy age shines through when Kovic bluntly states that Communism needs to be stopped beca
use they are moving into every place. The movie does to a certain respect portray the attitudes of the nation as it entered into the Vietnam War. It emphasizes that America had not lost a war, that American's, as a whole feared communist encroachment. Although the Mikie Mantle baseball and apple pie notion does tend to over dramatize the "quaintness" of the times. America was a nation in an arms race with nuclear weapons and although that might not have been everyone's dinner conversation, the threat was real. Kovic progresses from a hard core marine to a longhaired peace demonstrator. The shift is tied closely to the feelings of the nation as a whole although once again one sided. The director only uses some one from WWII, the 'good war", to defend the military as a whole. The director also represents the Republican Party, at Nixon's nomination, as cruel, unfeeling and a rowdy mob. The demonstrators on the other hand are portrayed as peaceful and suffering at the hands of the government and authority. This portrayal of events shows a one-sided view of events that far exceeds any sense of reality. The events manifested through out the movie are based on historical truth although highly over dramatized and with a lot of artistic license. The movie does deal with a lot of the cultural changes that occurred throughout this time era and it does demonstrate the general mood of the country. The movie is
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Approximate Word count = 956
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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