Ron Kovic: The Glorification Of War

247 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Hollywood glamorization of war

I will prove that the main argument of the film is that the government of United States of America glorifies war while leaving out the consequences the soldiers face after the war, while not being able to provide adequate resources afterward. The reason why this is believed to be the main argument of the film is because in the beginning of the film when Ron Kovic is shown as a young boy they show him and his family at a parade to recognize the veterans from the WWI and WWII, everything at the parade is all the American colours and everyone all cheerful waving the American flag clapping and cheering while the veterans past by waving. Also little while after the parade they show Ron and his family sitting in front of the TV watching the president

Show More
Related

  • Views on the Vietnam War Expressed in the Films "The Ugly American" and "The Green Berets"

    796 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, the main point of The Green Berets was to convince its audience the Vietnam War was essential; conversely, the Ugly American attempted to berate it. However, it is also clear that both had a common goal; one that expressed the cruelty war can have. John Wayne’s defeat-all-communists approach was becoming a less popular opinion by the time the movie was released. Instead, the ideals The Ugly American conveyed were the most popular. Unless these two styles of thinking are reconciled, the countries of the world are destined to be trapped in a prolonged war.

    Read More

  • Daniel Richter's Essay War And Culture

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Daniel Richter’s essay War and Culture, he uses a mix of primary sources and his own comprehension of history, to formulate a general understanding of the native experience. In our experience watching The Black Robe we were able to analyze history through a chain of sources. There are many similarities to analyze from these sources. Harmony and balance is the root of many aspects in Native culture including: dependency on Europeans, warfare style, rituals and customs, mourning, population maintenance, and ultimately adoption-torture.

    Read More

  • Britain's Conscientious Objectors in WWI

    848 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... and remorse inside C.Os by presenting them a situation in which they would be questioned about the war by their children which may not happen in reality as some children's may feel the opposite and instead feel proud of the father taking a stand for what his rights. In addition to this the government are trying to put C.Os in a early negative mindset of feeling guilt and remorse for their actions so it gradually build to the day they get confronted by their children which might no even happen which compromises the reliability of the source. Being a primary interpretation is is partly useful as it deems negativity because it wants o change the mindset of C.Os to make them feel embarrassment and guilt, however the source also interprets to us how desperate and selfish government was as they just cared about winning the war and ignored C.Os moral beliefs.

    Read More

  • Platoon a Film That Portrays The Vietnam War

    1525 Words  | 4 Pages

    Oliver Stone created a legendary portrayal of the Vietnam War. One can understand the controversy that followed the production of the film given its legitimacy and accuracy. Before Platoon was realized, Americans viewed Vietnam as the war America lost but neglected to understand the soldiers that fought in the war. As a result, a generation of drug abusers, mental patients, and criminals were born out of the post-Vietnam climate. However, Platoon introduced Americans to the horrors and effects that a war like the Vietnam War could have on a soldier.

    Read More

  • Review of War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

    1755 Words  | 4 Pages

    Review of "War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, written by the talented author Chris Hedges, gives us provoking thoughts that are somewhat painful to read, but at the same time are quite personal confessions. Chris Hedges, a talented journalist to say the least, brings nearly 15 years of being a foreign correspondent to this book and concludes how all of his world experiences tie together. Throughout his book, he unifies themes present in all the wars he experienced first hand. The most important themes I was able to draw from this book were, war skews reality, dominates culture, seduces society with its heroic attributes, distorts memory, and supports a cause, and allures us by a constant battle between death and love.

    Read More

  • Flags Of Our Fathers

    919 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...pancy and how Clint Eastwood throughout scenes in the film intertwined the realities of war and the image of war that was only showing lies.

    Read More

  • Confusion In Tim O Brien's The Things They Carried

    246 Words  | 1 Pages

    It is a fact that the majority of the youth in the late 60’s were against the war because of the great confusion that America was fighting someone else's war. The book even states “Certain blood was being shed for uncertain reasons”. That soul reason is what triggered all the riots and protests against the war. Still to current day that confusion remains with the Veterans and their families as to why we were there other than just fighting communism.

    Read More

  • Vietnam and Cinema

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    Vietnam, a place where horror and hardships took place, was home to one of the greatest tragedies we as Americans have faced in recent memory. The Vietnam war, otherwise known as the Second Indochina War, spanned from 1959 through 1975 and claimed the lives of nearly three million soldier and civilian lives. Two of the greatest depictions of this war in my opinion were the films We Were Soldiers and Born on the 4th of July. Although both of these movies reflect the same historical event, they offer a unique perspective to one another. We Were Soldiers, directed by Randall Wallace and starring Mel Gibson, emphasized the combat aspects of war and told an inspiring tale of courage and sacrifice in which the 7th Calvary displayed at the battle of Ia Drang. On the other hand, Born on the 4th of July, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Tom Cruise, is a biography of the life of Ron Kovic who returned from Vietnam paralyzed and questioning his involvement war. I found that the filmmakers objectives were slightly diverging in the messages depicted about the impact of war on American society. This War truly reflected a dark time in American history. In Born on the 4th of July, John F. Kennedy in his famous speech stated, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what can you do for your country” (Born on the 4th of July). This idea of sacrifice for country in evident in both films as well as underlying themes of patriotism, protest, gender roles, and racial unity.

    Read More

  • Vietnam and Oliver Stone

    1033 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...adaptation of Ron Kovic’s best-selling autobiography. Both of these movies depict real-life accounts of how war can change people both physically and emotionally. America is approaching the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. Today’s students are much too young to remember this time in society. While textbooks have plenty of information regarding this time period, they do not have the emotional impact that these movies convey. In a case of life imitating art, Stone’s movies are the voice of a generation.

    Read More

  • Film Analysis: The Thin Red Line

    457 Words  | 1 Pages

    With this comes the possibility of taking an enemy soldiers life or risking their own life. It won't matter how strong they are, how well they can fight or how smart they are; just being in the wrong place at the wrong time can cost them their life. In the movie the soldiers slowly fall apart and seem to forget what they are fighting for. One soldier is shown in the movie running dirt through his hand stating, "It is just dirt". (Malick, 1998) It appears he is questioning the bloodshed of so many over something so insignificant. In some cases, the empathy for the wounded Japanese appears to become almost comical to some U.S. soldiers. The moral lesson that can be drawn from this film is the inhumanity of war is a sacrifice each soldier if faced with. The in your face reality of the chaotic destruction of war can blur moral

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Hitman's Bodyguard

    1048 Words  | 3 Pages

    The argument was made for the western teen to remember the meaning of self-sacrifices for the protection and freedom for the family and loved ones. A working-class western teen can understand and be more influenced by the argument because most of them only have their family, but in a middle and upper class are more in control of the U.S by the economic power that they have but also the kids in both classes are raised to success in life no matter what. The teens in both of those classes may get the argument late or be less influenced by it because they were not raised in the core values of humanity. By having authors that teens admire from hero movies it sets an emotional reaction to actions scenes that set up the purpose of the argument after the agreement that Kincands has with the Interpol

    Read More

  • Who Is The Film Truly Pro-War?

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    In my opinion this film was pro-war rather than anti-war. I think that the film was pro-war because, in the beginning there was never any talk about not wanting to go to war. There were soldiers walking through the town, people clapping, and the students in the class were given a speech on why they should stand up for their country and join the military. I believe the beginning would have been very different if they were anti-war, they may not have paraded the soldiers through town, there would not have been as many people cheering and clapping for them, and during the speech to the students they may have talked about some of the cons of going into war, or even talked about the problems with the country going to war. I think that the film maker wanted the audience to know what it was like during that time of war, he did not focus on the women or families, but rather the men, who at the time were supposed to fight. The film marker also focused on the war, he wanted to portray the conditions in which most of the soldiers lived, and what they had to do during the time they were fighting.

    Read More

  • A Different Point of View of the Vietnam War in Tim O'Brien's The Things They Carried

    1249 Words  | 3 Pages

    A natural behaviour for humans is trying to relate to other’s points of view, one thing most people do not realize is that when you actually experience the event, you will have a different point of view versus trying to relate to it. Tim O’Brien, the author of The Things They Carried, had a completely different point of view on war than others who just watched it on the news. The main character and the stories in the book resemble Tim O'Brien's life in many ways, one of which is how Tim and the main character both oppose the war but other’s point of view about the war makes them conform and go to war anyways. .The Vietnam war, which is the basis of this book, had two opposing groups like all wars. The first was the opposition to U.S involvement in Vietnam. This group viewed the war to be a complete waste; They strongly believed that there was no reason to get involved in others problems, and it was a waste of U.S resources and troops. However, the People in favor saw U.S involvement as a way to protect human rights and found the war to be beneficial to our economy. Tim O’Brien was a part of the opposition group due to his belief that the war was pointless unless it meant something or if it was for a greater cause. There were many who saw the war from his point of view and fled and then there were others who tried to justify the war and convince him. Tim O’brien however was swayed to go to the war instead of doing what he truly wanted to do. Throughout the book O’brien will reproduce his experiences and try to show the effects of fear and why fear can be beneficial but could have consequences and how the war brings such fear on fearless men and how it affects them.

    Read More

  • Born On The Fourth Of July Summary

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    Born on the Fourth of July: An Analysis of Ron Kovic’s Transformation of Moral Consciousness in the Anti-Vietnam War Movement This historical analysis will evaluate the autobiographical account of Ron Kovic’s moral transformation from a pro-war soldier to a supporter of the Anti-Vietnam War Movement. Kovic’s teenage experiences define the wartime propaganda of American military patriotism, which inspired him to defend his country against the enemy—mainly the communist threat of the McCarthy Era. However, the Vietnam War represented the failure of moral and ethical aspects of patriotism, since the war was actually being fought for the American military industrial complex. Kovic’s experiences in the Vietnam War define the deliberate mismanagement

    Read More

  • We Were Soldiers

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Vietnam War was a nightmare for many soldiers. It re-defined the meaning of war to an entire generation. As the conflict grew it became known around the world that this was a war that could not be won. After this was realized by America the main focus became to "get out" instead of "getting a victory". In the 2002 film We Were Soldiers, directed by Randall Wallace, a true account of the first major battle in Vietnam is given. At the beginning of the film he introduces to us many of the soldiers and their families. This is a very smart technique, because it ensures that the audience not only will care about each one, but also tell them apart. Wallace exemplifies two very fundamental concepts that show up throughout this film. One shows the best of worst of humanity by illustrating to us that war is a tool for the powerful and that just because someone is your enemy does not make them evil. He also portrays both Vietcong and American soldiers in a manner that is correlative. Even though they were fighting each other for different reasons and dying for different countries, both sides were human and their deaths brought grief and sadness to someone.

    Read More

More about Ron Kovic: The Glorification Of War

Open Document