![]() |
If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
![]()
Ask yourself this question: how would you feel if your crew got to
go home after 3 months overseas, and you had to stay for duration plus six months? Would you say "they went to war" as excited as you are about JFKerry? Always wondered about that early departure. Can anyone explain? |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
![]()
Ask yourself this question: how would you feel if your crew got to
go home after 3 months overseas, and you had to stay for duration plus six months? Would you say "they went to war" as excited as you are about JFKerry? Always wondered about that early departure. Can anyone explain? Anyone wounded three times could opt out. It occurs to me that this is what the protagonist in "Platoon" does also. Walt |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
![]()
"WalterM140" wrote
Always wondered about that early departure. Can anyone explain? Anyone wounded three times could opt out. It occurs to me that this is what the protagonist in "Platoon" does also. Platoon is good fiction, based sort of on incidents of real life, but highly dramatic for effect. In the script he's always called "Chris" while everyone else has their last name or a nickname. It's common in the military to only use a persons last name. Mail call, etc, it's just easier that way. But the script emphasises "Chris" to signify that he is not really one of them. He's just there for the tour, and then will get on with his life. Everyone else in the story calls him "Taylor" but in the script he is "Chris." He opts out of the war on his second wound, and he will accept it, because he knows he can't take it. The war is beneath him. In the last scene he looks at "Rhah" who, like a true Centurion, is victorious again with his walking stick and fist, ready for the next battle, and "Chris" knows he made the right choice to leave. He can never become a warrior, only a survivor. He murdered the warrior who had kept him alive. His final words a "those of us who did make it have an obligation to build again, to teach to others what we know and to try with what's left of our lives to find a goodness and meaning to this life" It's the words of a murderer, who failed to become a warrior, and left the battle. What does he have to teach? What goodness and meaning are to be found? "Chris" becomes the spokesman for the warrior, yet he is not a warrior, and the people he returns to do not know this. Thus the power of this ending actually brings me to tear, it is well written. The true warriors are just completely forgotten in life, like ants, as in this story. |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
![]()
He opts out of
the war on his second wound, As I recall, Chris was wounded three times, and so was the one black soldier who stabbed himself in the thigh after the big attack. Walt |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
![]()
"WalterM140" wrote
He opts out of the war on his second wound, As I recall, Chris was wounded three times, and so was the one black soldier who stabbed himself in the thigh after the big attack. It's a minor distinction, you could be right, the point is more about opting out, rather than the number of wounds. I believe the black soldier was more interested in getting a blow job from the white nurses than anything else in life. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
![]() Platoon is good fiction I don't agree. I think of it as the least of the Vietnam war movies (well, there was always "A Yank in Vietnam"), and a wholly unconvincing portrait of combat. It's not even good fiction. all the best -- Dan Ford email: (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com Viva Bush! weblog www.vivabush.org |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
![]()
"Cub Driver" wrote
Platoon is good fiction I don't agree. I think of it as the least of the Vietnam war movies (well, there was always "A Yank in Vietnam"), and a wholly unconvincing portrait of combat. It's not even good fiction. I've seen a lot of Westerns, and John Wayne war movies, and Platoon is near the top, mainly for the script, and for the acting. It probably has as much to do with Vietnam, as John Wayne's had to do about D-Day or the Pacific. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
![]() I've seen a lot of Westerns, and John Wayne war movies, and Platoon is near the top, mainly for the script, and for the acting. It probably has as much to do with Vietnam, as John Wayne's had to do about D-Day or the Pacific. But at least John Wayne never thought of himself as the Messiah. The only image I carried away from Platoon is the guy with his arms outstretched: oooh, look, daddy! Jesus on the Cross! What clever symbolism! This much be a very deep movie! My own Viet picks: We Were Soldiers, Go Tell the Spartans, and Full Metal Jacket. The first is one of the great war movies, the second was based on a book I wrote, and the third is a classic bang! bang! film. I enjoyed each of them as much the second time around. Hamburger Hill had its moments, but I sometimes forgot what war it was supposed to be. I probably won't see it the second time. all the best -- Dan Ford email: (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com Viva Bush! weblog www.vivabush.org |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
![]() |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
![]() |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
![]() |
||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Juan Jiminez is a liar and a fraud (was: Zoom fables on ANN | ChuckSlusarczyk | Home Built | 105 | October 8th 04 12:38 AM |
Bush's guard record | JDKAHN | Home Built | 13 | October 3rd 04 09:38 PM |
Two MOH Winners say Bush Didn't Serve | WalterM140 | Military Aviation | 196 | June 14th 04 11:33 PM |
bush rules! | Be Kind | Military Aviation | 53 | February 14th 04 04:26 PM |