Secondly, the film gives an accurate account of the methods and goals of Vietnam War journalists. In the film, the main character, Joker, is assigned to work for the war paper "Stars and Stripes." In the scenes concerning the paper there is much discussion about what the journalists have to set their goals for, that is providing stories that make the Americans look good. "Stars and Stripes" was a real newspaper during the Vietnam War and there is evidence that journalists were pressured by their advisors to only produce stories that were pro-American, and in some cases they were asked to alter the records in order to achieve this. Joseph E. MacDonald, a journalist for "Stars and Stripes", gives one account during 1969, in which he describes his work as complete bull*censored*. He states that on one occasion, his chief advisor forced him to decrease an American body count from twenty to four soldiers, in order to provide a positive outlook for the American battalions at Hu!.
e.2 If they found it necessary to lie in order to gain backing for an already unpopular war, they must have feared defeat at early stages. Therefore, an account given by Joseph E. MacDonald proves that Kubrick portrays realistic attitudes towards journalism during the war.
The film makes truthful suggestions about the role of prostitution in the Vietnam War. For instance, during one of the battles at Hue, a South Vietnamese soldier brings in a young Vietnamese woman for Joker's entire platoon to share for only five dollars each. It was usual for a soldier who stayed in Vietnam for any length of time to depend on Vietnamese prostitutes to answer to their sexual cravings. Although not many men enjoy revealing their endeavours with prostitution during the war, there are accounts that prove the abundance of it: "Saigon was an addicted city, and we were the drug the mass prostitution of women it had all been done in our name.
