Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 60

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Popular Culture Review

particular needs of an era," thus creating a social event that attracts
society's attention.^^ Society's attention to the "social event" known
as Vietnam is illustrated by the box office success of Vietnam War
films such as Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July. Films can also
reinforce the changing values found in segments of society. While
The Green Berets reinforced the pro-war sentiment which dominated
the early Vietnam years, films such as Platoon, Apocalypse Now and
Born on the Fourth of July depicted a more critical view of the war,
questioning the U.S. role in Southeast Asia.
Entertainment films produced in Hollywood illustrate the
interdependent relationship between film and society. The film
industry designs films both to reflect the culture and to sell tickets to
mass audiences, thus creating a social event. According to Dan
Nimmo and James Combs, "The success of a movie depends on the
meshing of the fantasy of a small group of people (the moviemakers)
with the fantasies of sometimes hundr^s of thousands of people (the
audience)."^^ However, the purpose of Vietnam War films extends
beyond the singular role of ticket sates. These films are significant
because they assist Americans in resolving their feelings about the
war.
The American Dream was shattered by the events that
surrounded U.S. involvement in Vietnam. Gilbert Adair explains the
turmoil created when: "the nation found itself denied the reassurance
of a broad consensus of opinion; decisions of urgent matter were openly,
violently contested-in the streets, on campus."^® The turbulent 1960s
spawned dramatic social changes and led Americans to question many
traditional beliefs they had previously taken for granted. Anti-war
protests increased, and Americans began to lose confidence in their
government. President Richard Nixon's resignation, as a result of the
Watergate scandal, further eroded public faith in the American
system. Vietnam left America a divided nation incapable of
resolving the inner conflict created by the war. James Wilson
described America in the early 1980s: "Vietnam remains an open sore
on the American national consciousness, a wo und that has not healed
because Americans have failed to acknowledge it, let alone heal it.^®
Rushing and Frentz argue that social problems may be
resolved more effectively through film than through speeches or
actions of public officials, because film provides a more "tangible
structure to social phenomena."^ ^ Oliver Stone uses film to call