The Military in Hollywood
More than ten years after the end of the Vietnam War, two movies were released that showed differing opinions about how the war was fought. Hamburger Hill and Platoon were released during the glory days of the American military under the Reagan administration. The subject of the Vietnam War was no longer taboo, and national pride had recovered from the previous era. Because of this, filmmakers felt comfortable with finally depicting both the heroism of those who fought in Vietnam and the horrors associated with that war. These two movies had similarities and differences ranging from how they portrayed the military image as a whole to the unique sociological aspects of military life. Hamburger Hill told the story of an army unit from the 101st Airborne that faced a bloody ten-day battle for a hill in the Ashau Valley in Vietnam. The movie seemed to deal mainly with the members of the platoon and how they dealt with the difficulties of war. From the first scenes of the Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington D.C., the movie attempted to depict the patriotism of those who fought and died. It avoided any overall statements
regarding the purpose or correctness of the war and instead focused on the courage and heroism of all who served in Vietnam. Both movies made a point to show that the military was made up of people from all walks of life. The platoons had the stereotypical southern "rednecks," the blacks from the inner cities, the naive country boys from Middle America, the street-smart city boys, and the average "Joes." There were experienced "short-timers" and newly arrived "cherries." Most of the soldiers were drafted, but a few of them mentioned that they had volunteered for duty. Both movies mentioned the inequality of the draft during war. The poor and uneducated were the ones drafted because they could not go to college. This generated the idea that the blacks were the pawns in the white politicians' army, which was the cause for much of the racial tension within the units. Although this diversity led to frequent conflicts between platoon members, Hamburger Hill attempted to show that the bonds formed among soldiers were stronger than the individual ideals that they brought to the unit. Pride in the unit caused everyone to work together in battle, and even if they were not fighting for the cause of the nation, they were fighting for the cause of the unit. Now the military is an all-volunteer force. It is still made up of an extremely diverse group of individuals, and there are still conflicts within each unit. I believe that Hamburger Hill more accurately depicts the type of personal interaction one
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Approximate Word count = 1026
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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