Difference between revisions of "The Green Berets"

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'''Green Berets''' was a [[John Wayne]]-film produced in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War, and it was meant to project a strong "anti-communist" message and to improve the image of the US-Vietnamese allies. John Wayne, the film's star actor and director, stated that main purpose of the film was to "sell the war to the American public". The way it achieved this was to portray the Americans as heroes fighting in difficult circumstances ("They had to be the toughest fighting force on earth - and the men who led them had to be just a little bit tougher!"), and it demonized the Vietnamese enemy. The war was transformed into a "good vs. evil" conflict which simplified its appreciation for the majority of the Americans. The film contains no references to the history of the war, the reasons for it, or the long-time American meddling in the area.  The film is just a series of battles against a brutal and elusive enemy.  In essence, the film appealed to the valor, patriotism, and other crass motives, and it certainly didn’t appeal to the intellect of the audience.
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[[The Green Berets]] was a film produced in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. It was meant to project a strong anti-communist message and to improve the image of the US-Vietnamese allies. The film starred and was co-directed by [[John Wayne]]. According to an article by Marilyn B. Young in the Organization of American Historians' magazine, ''OAH Magazine of History'', the film was "John Wayne's explicit effort to sell the war to the American public".<ref>Marilyn B. Young, [http://clioseye.sfasu.edu/Archives/Main%20Archives/VietChron.htm Now Playing: Vietnam], OAH Magazine of History, October 2004, accessed 14 Jan 2010</ref>
  
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The film appeared three months after the height of the Tet Offensive, when the Vietnamese guerrillas attacked American forces everywhere in South Vietnam. This offensive was key to the change in American's perception of the war and what it really was about.  After years of "light at the end of the tunnel", "victory is in sight", "increasing [enemy] body counts", it became clear to most Americans that Vietnamese hated the Americans and would fight with determination.  Enter John Wayne's film... The film certainly was not well received, and when it was finally released most Americans already opposed the war.
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Young quotes producer [[Michael Wayne]] (John Wayne's eldest son<ref>[http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/story/john-wayne.s-son-dies Michael Wayne, John Wayne's son dies], Obituary, contactmusic.com, 4 Apr 2003, accessed 14 January 2010</ref>) as explaining:
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:We're not making a political picture; we're making a picture about a bunch of right guys . . . Cowboys and Indians . . . . The Americans are the good guys and the Viet Cong are the bad guys. . . . Maybe we shouldn't have destroyed all those Indians, but when you are making a picture, the Indians are the bad guys.<ref>Marilyn B. Young, [http://clioseye.sfasu.edu/Archives/Main%20Archives/VietChron.htm Now Playing: Vietnam], OAH Magazine of History, October 2004, accessed 14 Jan 2010</ref>
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Young comments:
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:What is particularly interesting, however, is the effort the film must make to explain why the Indians are the bad guys and why they must die. In the old days, movie goers could tell the good guys from the bad guys without a scorecard. Now, the justice of the cause must be explained--and at considerable length. Very early in the film, the upstanding men of the Green Berets answer the hostile questions of an aggressively liberal press corps: why is the U.S. fighting such a useless war? Is it not a civil war? Do the Vietnamese want us there? Is the Saigon government not dictatorial? Patiently, one by one, their questions are answered. It falls to a black master sergeant to describe how desperately the Vietnamese desire U.S. intervention: "If this same thing [the NLF insurgency] happened in the United States, every mayor in every city would be murdered. Every teacher . . . every professor. . . every Senator, every member of the House of Representatives and their families . . .  But in spite of this, there's always some little fellow out there willing to stand up and take the place of those who've been decimated. They need us . . . and they want us." "It's strange that we never read of this in the newspapers," a housewife complains. "Well, that's newspapers for you, ma'am . . . ," one of the officers responds.<ref>Marilyn B. Young, [http://clioseye.sfasu.edu/Archives/Main%20Archives/VietChron.htm Now Playing: Vietnam], OAH Magazine of History, October 2004, accessed 14 Jan 2010</ref>
  
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==Key Personnel==
 
 
===Directors===
 
===Directors===
 
*[[Ray Kellogg]]
 
*[[Ray Kellogg]]
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===Writers===
 
===Writers===
 
*[[James Lee Barrett]]
 
*[[James Lee Barrett]]
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*[[ Kenneth B. Facey]] (US Army Col.)
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*[[Kenneth B. Facey]] (US Army Col.)
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*[[ Robin Moore]] (wrote the novel on which the film was based)
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*[[Robin Moore]] (wrote the novel on which the film was based)
 
===Producer===
 
===Producer===
 
*[[Michael Wayne]]
 
*[[Michael Wayne]]
  
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[[Category:Culture wars and Historical Engineering with films]]
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==Notes==
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<references/>
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[[Category:Films]]

Latest revision as of 14:32, 14 January 2010

The Green Berets was a film produced in 1968, at the height of the Vietnam War. It was meant to project a strong anti-communist message and to improve the image of the US-Vietnamese allies. The film starred and was co-directed by John Wayne. According to an article by Marilyn B. Young in the Organization of American Historians' magazine, OAH Magazine of History, the film was "John Wayne's explicit effort to sell the war to the American public".[1]

Young quotes producer Michael Wayne (John Wayne's eldest son[2]) as explaining:

We're not making a political picture; we're making a picture about a bunch of right guys . . . Cowboys and Indians . . . . The Americans are the good guys and the Viet Cong are the bad guys. . . . Maybe we shouldn't have destroyed all those Indians, but when you are making a picture, the Indians are the bad guys.[3]

Young comments:

What is particularly interesting, however, is the effort the film must make to explain why the Indians are the bad guys and why they must die. In the old days, movie goers could tell the good guys from the bad guys without a scorecard. Now, the justice of the cause must be explained--and at considerable length. Very early in the film, the upstanding men of the Green Berets answer the hostile questions of an aggressively liberal press corps: why is the U.S. fighting such a useless war? Is it not a civil war? Do the Vietnamese want us there? Is the Saigon government not dictatorial? Patiently, one by one, their questions are answered. It falls to a black master sergeant to describe how desperately the Vietnamese desire U.S. intervention: "If this same thing [the NLF insurgency] happened in the United States, every mayor in every city would be murdered. Every teacher . . . every professor. . . every Senator, every member of the House of Representatives and their families . . . But in spite of this, there's always some little fellow out there willing to stand up and take the place of those who've been decimated. They need us . . . and they want us." "It's strange that we never read of this in the newspapers," a housewife complains. "Well, that's newspapers for you, ma'am . . . ," one of the officers responds.[4]

Directors

Writers

Producer

Notes

  1. ↑ Marilyn B. Young, Now Playing: Vietnam, OAH Magazine of History, October 2004, accessed 14 Jan 2010
  2. ↑ Michael Wayne, John Wayne's son dies, Obituary, contactmusic.com, 4 Apr 2003, accessed 14 January 2010
  3. ↑ Marilyn B. Young, Now Playing: Vietnam, OAH Magazine of History, October 2004, accessed 14 Jan 2010
  4. ↑ Marilyn B. Young, Now Playing: Vietnam, OAH Magazine of History, October 2004, accessed 14 Jan 2010
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