<strong>AUSTIN COMMUNITY COLLEGE</strong>

<strong>TCP-4 PLATOON</strong>

<strong>J. Lauer – 1302 – 207 # 13622</strong>

<strong>PHILIP ROBINSON</strong>

<strong>11/17/2012</strong>

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As long as there has been combat there has been an attempt to understand its effects. Mankind has dark and light forces that lock in combat over every decision involving our conscience; struggling for dominance over the soul. There are several views when it comes to war, some for and some against. What we have here is a fictional film based on the stark realities of combat as told from a realist point of view. <em>Platoon</em> should be preserved for future generations as an unflinching look at real life accounts of combat and the internal struggle to maintain humanity during the Vietnam War; told by someone who lived through it at the ground level.

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Written and directed by Oliver Stone, <em>Platoon</em> is the first of three movies about Vietnam; following with <em>Born on the Fourth of July</em> and <em>Heaven and Earth</em>. Released in 1986, <em>Platoon</em> is one of many attempts to adequately illustrate the insanity known as the Vietnam War. After many years of combat, being exposed to unimaginable tragedy multiple times daily, it begins to wear on the soul. Two of the three principle characters have been in country for a long time and demonstrate different fractural effects as a result of prolonged engagement. Our third principle character is an educated man from a family of means that wants to do his duty to country, so he drops out of college and volunteers to come to Vietnam. This movie follows two small infantry groups into the bush as they attempt to live through their time without getting lost in the death and destruction that surrounds them. This film is dark and disturbingly real, the only exception being that reality of combat in Vietnam was much darker. Few men and women will speak of the horrors that were not shown in this film, and the studio would never have released it if he had. The cast and crew for this film could not have been cast better.

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Looking at historical context; we had just come back from defeating a tyrant named Hitler, and while there was human loss it was honorable. This nation lost one of the greatest presidents to have served when someone shot Kennedy, and shortly after shot his brother. This debacle in Vietnam was polarizing within the populace in the US; as it was viewed as a civil conflict that we had no business in, or as defending against communism. The anti-war anti-violence movements spanned the nation, as did those people who fought communism. Demonstrations ranged from peaceful gatherings to angry mobs. As a nation we had not been this diametrically opposed since the civil war. During this war that lasted more than fifteen years that cost almost 60,000 American soldiers, morale dropped, drug use and dependence spiked, and the will to fight dissipated. With the average lifespan of a green recruit going from one day to two months during the rush, I understand the frustration and desire to escape however you can. Temper all of this with commanding officers that couldn’t lead or fight their way out of a paper bag, getting brothers in arms killed because of their stupidity. The term is fragging when someone of higher rank is intentionally injured or killed by “friendly” forces. Then when you finally come home from the worst hell imaginable, having served your country and lost parts of your soul and parts of your body, you get spit on and called baby killer. We had lost a war, and that was a hard lesson for a nation with a really big stick. This film simply was not possible any earlier that when it came, there had to be healing and time.

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Having grown up in the eighties, everything became about excess. Fast cars, The Headlines: Reaganomics, Lennon shot, Star Wars Defense Initiative, Challenger explodes, Iran Contra scandal, Chernobyl accident, Bush, Berlin Wall comes down, end of cold war, and AZT slows AIDS progression. As a nation we got lost, escaping the reality of life through sex, drugs, alcohol, games, movies, and books. While the sixties and early seventies had drug use in its culture, the later seventies and forward brought a proliferation of “harder” drugs. The Vietnam War had devastated many families through loss; and through those that never quite came back. Communication with family became more difficult after returning from combat with addictions and nightmares that would not leave. We were all looking for answers and understanding, and a huge piece of the puzzle came from the effects of the war. The timing of this movie seemed to fall in with other works of the time that were also shedding light on the darkness. The difference between Stone’s vision and other films about Vietnam was the “boot camp” that the cast was required to endure to establish and maintain character emersion. The movie was well received at the time if box office totals mean much. IMDB tells us that the box office and rental revenue from <em>Platoon </em>broke the 200 million mark by December of 1987 and only cost 6 million. There is a list of awards at the end of the paper. Canby also writes, “Mr. Stone's control over his own screenplay is such that ''Platoon'' seems to slide into and out of crucial scenes without ever losing its distant cool. He doesn't telegraph emotions, nor does he stomp on them. The movie is a succession of found moments. It's less like a work that's been written than one that has been discovered, though, as we all probably know, screenplays aren't delivered by storks. This one is a major piece of work, as full of passion as it is of redeeming, scary irony.(Canby)

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This film was made in direct contrast to the film ­<em>Green Berets </em>with John Wayne. The only similarities between these two films are that they are both about the Vietnam War, and both did well in the box office. <em>Green Berets </em>explained the Vietnam War like Disney explained Grimm’s Tales. This film attempts to glorify the war as the right and noble fight against communism. What comes across is an attempt at cowboys and Indians in the jungle. I realize that most films are fictional, but this is one of the most propaganda filled, sugar coated, pieces crap that I have ever seen. Other films released at the time actually deserve to be mentioned in the same breath, but not all. One reviewer says this of <em>Platoon </em>and its relation to other films<em>, “</em>-certainly not like those revisionist comic strips ''Rambo'' and ''Missing in Action.'' Nor does it have much in common with either Francis Coppola's epic ''Apocalypse Now,'' which ultimately turns into a romantic meditation on a mythical war, or Michael Cimino's ''Deer Hunter,'' which is more about the mind of the America that fought the war than the Vietnam War itself. (Canby)”

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<em>Platoon </em>remains to be popular today if the 87% ratings from rotten tomatoes are any clue. <em>Platoon </em>is still on IMDB top 250 movies, and on American Film Institute’s top 100. Givin that our nation is still in combat, and there is still a need for understanding, this film is still resonates with a lot of people. This film maintains as a compass for films that follow. Having grown up in the eighties with my father and his brother having served during Vietnam, this film gives me more insight to the man I didn’t know. He took me to see this movie when I was 12, and I had no clue at the time as to why; and now I do not have as many questions. My personal opinions about this film fall in with my belief that this film should be preserved. Just as the cover says “One of the first casualties of war is innocence”. There are freedoms and liberties that are worth defending, but there is a cost. How many atrocities can one person witness and still maintain humanity. The future generations need to know that becoming a soldier and killing another person not all that different from ourselves, is not like the video games. Soldiers are real people with real struggles.

<a href="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Platoon-awards-11.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3075" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Platoon-awards-11.jpg" alt="" width="421" height="717" /></a><a href="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Platoon-awards-21.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3076" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Platoon-awards-21.jpg" alt="" width="426" height="769" /></a><a href="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Platoon-awards-31.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3077" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Platoon-awards-31.jpg" alt="" width="419" height="707" /></a><a href="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Platoon-awards-41.jpg"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-3078" src="http://jeanatacc.com/2011/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Platoon-awards-41.jpg" alt="" width="419" height="329" /></a>

<strong>WORKS CITED</strong>

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Canby, Vincent. "The Vietnam War in Stone’s “Platoon”." <em>New York Times</em> (12-19-1986): Film. Web. 17 Nov 2012.<a href="http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE5D6113DF93AA25751C1A960948260&amp;partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes">http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9A0DE5D6113DF93AA25751C1A960948260&amp;partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes</a> (Canby Film) – Extremely helpful review.

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"Platoon." <em>Internet Movie Database</em> n.pag. <em>Internet Movie Database</em>. Web. 27 Nov 2012. <a href="//www.imdb.com/title/tt0091763/&gt;">&lt;http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091763/&gt;</a>. – Helpful movie database

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"Platoon." <em>Reviews</em> (1986): n.pag. <em>Rotten Tomatoes</em>. Web. 27 Nov 2012. <a href="//www.rottentomatoes.com/m/platoon/&gt;">&lt;http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/platoon/&gt;</a>. -- Helpful movie reviews

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Stone, Oliver, dir. <em>Platoon</em>. 1986. Film. 27 Nov 2012.