Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 71
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transformation is clear when he tells a reporter, "Just lately I've felt
like I'm home."^^ Kovic successfully reaffirms his belief in moralism
by confronting his role in the deaths of innocent people and by
participating in anti-war protests. His actions call attention to a key
element of moralism: that the government's responsibility should be
to act with benevolence and fairness.
Role of the Audience
The final element of the social value model emphasizes the
audience members who observe the value transformation. Audience
responses to this value shift may range from an intensified awareness
to active participation.^^ Intensified awareness stems from the
recognition that the current value system is unable to fulfill their
needs. At the other end of the continuum is active participation,
which occurs when a film spurs the audience to react to the events on
screen.
It is important to note that the complexity of films such as
Born on the Fourth of July do not lend themselves to a simplistic
either/or reaction from audiences. A careful examination of potential
viewers illustrates the diversity of public opinion and subsequent
reaction to the film's subject matter. Americans experienced a wide
range of emotions toward both the war and the soldiers who fought in
it. The depiction of soldiers ranged from the social misfits found in
Taxi Driver and the highly trained ex-combat soldier in Rambo, to
the emotionally devastated Vietnam veterans portrayed in Born on
the Fourth of July and Coming Home. Linda Dittmar and Gene
Michaud conclude that: "unlike the fairly stable filmic
characterizations of veterans that followed World War II, the image.
of the soldier returning from Vietnam has swung back and forth as
American film attempted to negotiate the ideological shifts of the
times."®® The ambivalence toward Vietnam veterans created by
film characters is consistent with the emotions created by moralistic
values. Americans may have felt guilty, perhaps even threatened,
by the rage of anti-war veterans.
Opponents of the war, identified as "doves," may have
viewed the film as a vindication of their opposition to U.S.
involvement in Vietnam. Their opposition to the war was, in part,
based on the philosophy that U.S. military involvement was not the
solution to the Vietnam conflict. They may have experienced a