... a consensus in the public by forming a context that everyone can understand. It is also very dangerous because it is easy to misinterpret. Andrew Martin explores this occurrrence in his book, Reciption of War: Vietnam in American Culture: "Hollywood declined to get involved with the Vietnam War, precisely because ... a whole, had difficulty adjusting to the grim legacy of a lost and troubling war. During the conflict, Hollywood produced only a single film dealing with Vietnam--John Wayne's The Green Berets. In general, Hollywood has portrayed Vietnam as a kind of phantasmagoric limbo, unt...

• Word Count: 2039
• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... stereotypical Vietnam veterans and their Vietnamese enemies, survival as a form of heroism, cynicism as a form of self-preservation, rather than historical accuracy. The only major production during the Vietnam Conflict, John Wayne's 1968 The Green Berets, illustrates how directors concentrated on drama rather than history. Dismayed by the growing protest against United States" involvement in Vietnam, Wayne contested that he tried ... ultimate cinematic death trip." Michael Lanning goes as far to say that the myths will cause viewers to, "think Americans soldiers murdered, raped, and to...

• Word Count: 3681
• Approx Pages: 15
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... the Vietnamese still makes for uncomfortable viewing. When, during the first Russian roulette sequence, Robert De Niro's character Michael kills his captors it is an act of bravado worthy of John Wayne, and one that American audiences clung to. When the film ends, with the mourners of Nick's funeral singing "God Bless America" in unison it becomes abundantly clear that this ... the US Army depicted in these films represents not only racial and ethnic differences (conflict between blacks and whites is portrayed extremely well in Hamburger Hill, in the aftermath of Martin Luther King's as...

• Word Count: 3466
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate