Movie Interview: Good Morning Vietnam (1987), Essay Example

Introduction of movie

The movie entitled Good Morning Vietnam stars Robbin Williams playing the part of AFRS radio DJ Adrian Cronauer during the heat of the Vietnam War. The movie tries to impose on how specific issues during the war years in Vietnam and the involvement of the American armada on it have been given life and humor through the eyes of a DJ. The main job of Cronauer was to provide updates and news about the situation that soldiers ought to contend with in the field. However, Cronauer does more than this which makes his superiors adamant about his position and how he uses it. Humorous as his presentations are over the radio, his propositions and presentation of the news are considered overrated by his superiors. Critics of the film however agree to the idea that the movie’s humorous touch is supposed to lighten the real issues that were evident during the time.

This movie has affected so many individuals who were able to witness the actual situations brought about by the war in Vietnam. America, being among the top list of countries wanting to help the said country be fetched out from such chaotic state experienced several points of emotional failure which resulted to the broken souls of both the soldiers and the families they have left behind.

The world then

The intensified involvement of the American government to what started as a concentrated social chaos in Vietnam is because of the implication of the Case-Church Amendment. This particular amendment indicated that the American troops ought to be sent to Vietnam to be able to contain the situation as a response to the alliance that they are forming with the government of the said country. With a choice that the American government relied on, several individuals from local communities were invited to join the army and were then sent out to the battle fields with or without ample training. During the time, politics among superiors was very rampant. Considerably, it could be realized that such an occurrence would be common especially that the consideration over power and control is involved.

During the time, it was very important of the American government to be able to get the best men to decide on the option of joining the army. Relatively, this caused a lot of pressure on the society as well as among the families from whom the said representatives are supposed to come from. According to my aunt who saw the situation with her own eyes when she was at a younger age, the pressure was very real, especially for those who were single and those who did not have their children yet as they were pronounces as the primary pick for the battle field, My uncle, who apparently died from during the said time was among those who were pressured enough. My aunt related the experience as if they were happening right before my eyes. She said their mom [my grandmother] was not able to say anything when her son got called to service. Although it may have seemed to have been a great privilege for the family, she knew it was a huge risk that her son had to take. The prestige and all that it provides meant nothing compared to the doubts and fear that their mother was feeling during the time. My aunt, who was just a kid then, admitted that she did not completely understand everything then; however, when she saw the film “Good morning Vietnam” it was as if she gained a new insight that brought her into the position of her mother and made her realize of the most probable emotions that her brother might have felt during the time.

Interviewee’s Personal Life Then

Being a child born to an average American family, my aunt had a bundle of dreams she wanted to fulfill. Born to in the western side of America, she was rather accustomed to having just the basics and becoming contented with being happy with what she has. Back then, she relates how simple life was and how seemingly simple her dreams were. She wanted to have her own family someday and raise her own children like her mother did. Their family did not have much, but they were getting along well. Although they were not rich, she said she considered their life as a family as the basic American dream. She and her siblings had the best time in their backyard, there, they dream about the future and they play with such dreams as if they are already real. Now, at the age of 54, she reminisces the past through movies that define her time of youth.

She was closest to my uncle who was the first born son among all the other three boys born to their family. She said he was the most responsible among all their brothers. He often sacrifices even matters that made him happy just so no one else would be sad. She even mentioned of the time when she was taught by her brother to ride a bike. My aunt was pretty much the family favorite during the time because she was the youngest among all other seven brothers and sisters. One matter she remembered was that when it comes to family problems, she was often spared off the pressure. This was the reason why the day her brother left for the army, she was the one to least understand what was happening. The last thing she remembered about her brother was a kiss in the forehead and a promise that he would come back soon, which in the end never happened.

The impact of the film on the Interviewee

Due to the background that my aunt has in relation to the emergence of the Vietnam War, her relative reaction to the film ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ was relatively connected to her experience. She remembered having to long for her brother’s letters during the weekend and how such arrival of letters ended after a six months ever since he first left the family to join the army. The presentation of the DJ and how he handled the news about the soldiers sacrificing their lives in Vietnam influenced my aunt’s life in a way that she seemed to have understood more of what her brother has gone through during those months of serving the American army.

“The humor of the film” she said, “at least lightens up the tension” that she apparently feels whenever she remembers how her brother had to leave them and how her mother tried to survive the days of agony along with the hope that her brother would come home any time soon. The political value presented through the movie made her understand more of what pushed the recruitment of many young American men during the time for them to offer their youth, their efforts, their time and their lives to a martyrdom that the government has signed upon.

Author’s Present Life

Being born to a modern world, the Vietnam War seems to be nothing to me but a part of history that I need to know basically because it is required in class. Little did I realize that this part of America’s history has affected so much of what my family is like at present. I did not see it at a larger context that affected other American families as well as they tried to face the challenge of adhering to an agreement even when it meant putting the best men in front of the line to be killed by the enemies.

The impact of the film on the Author

At first, watching the movie ‘Good Morning Vietnam’ served nothing to me but a grade. However, after watching it, I feel like as if I have gained more knowledge as to how the army was being funded then and now. It also taught me about the ethical situations happening in the army that most of the time gets enclosed behind curtains that the public do not get to know of. Seeing how the DJ in the film exposed some of the situations happening behind the knowledge of the public taught me so much about the realities that bounded the years of thriving through the American involvement in the Vietnam War.

The World Now

Although the American government is not in the same nutshell as it has been involved with in the Vietnam War, it still is engaging in several social chaos around the globe. Standing as probable sources of control of chaos in the communities they get involved in, the American army remains to stick around as ‘martyrs’ although political exposes situations differently. The world today ought to learn from what the Vietnam War had to teach it with. The performance of the DJ in the film Good Morning Vietnam should serve as a wakeup call to all so as to make sure that the same chaotic events and the emergence of politics that often ruins the army’s stand in the situation therefore causing the loss of the lives of soldiers would not happen again.