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blog post 11/1

After “Platoon” I was in shock about the realities of the Vietnam War. I did not realize how much action the soldiers had to take against their own will. It was surprising to see that most of the soldiers did not want to go into warfare. It was also shocking to see how the different soldiers treated each other. I did not expect the men to be so disrespectful to each other. It seemed as though the soldiers were not even fighting for the same team. I expected the soldiers to be extremely supportive of each other and have each other’s back. This makes me wonder if this is common throughout other wars as well. It seems as though it was every man for himself and I never expected it to be like that.

Chris had an interesting perspective on the war. It seemed as though his perspective was always changing; his experience and role were never constant. He seems like he had such a positive perspective at the beginning of the war and as time went on it slowly shifted to be more negative and negative. Chris made it evident that the men in the war struggled mentally as well as physically in the war. 

I found the scene when they destroyed the village to be extremely disgusting. I know that war is gruesome but to see that in “real life” was honestly shocking and gross. It was scary to see that the young girl was raped and that the mom got killed. I did not think that American soldiers would do such a thing. 

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3 Comments

  1. Thomas Bennett Thomas Bennett

    I too am left wondering how much of the movie may have been somewhat stretched especially in regard to the sort of squad war that broke out throughout the film. Chris’ perspective is made more interesting by the fact that he at first volunteered for the war as though he truly believed it was for the best. Seeing his perspective change so rapidly allowed me to better understand what the unbearable conditions in Vietnam could do to a soldier’s psyche. The film did an amazing job at making the viewer feel fear right along with the soldiers on screen. By being able to get a better grasp of the mental state of the soldiers, the viewer is able to better understand how war could cause such intense psychological damage.

  2. Mohamad Kassem Mohamad Kassem

    I think it was interesting to see how this movie pictured the Vietnam war; how the soldiers treated each other as well as how many had to take actions that went against their will. Unlike you, I was not surprised to see that women were raped and killed, I personally come from a region where conflict and war are becoming the norm and I expected to see such behavior from soldiers.

  3. Alexander Dimedio Alexander Dimedio

    I had some of the same thoughts and I agree with your analysis on the movie. One thing that shocked me was the fact that there was always something to do, and the soldiers rarely got any down time. The movie shows that this is truly one of the worst ways to live. I also found the village scenes to be one of the hardest parts of the movie to watch. The complete disrespect towards humanity the American soldiers showed is horrible to watch as an American citizen.

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