Good Morning Vietnam: An “Un-War” War Movie

In my RIP Robin Williams post yesterday, I mentioned that I wrote an essay while a student in England about Williams’ role in “Good Morning Vietnam”.

I don’t think I’ve posted any of my undergrad work on this blog ever but given yesterday’s events, now’s as good of time as any.  Oh, and feel free to pick apart my limited knowledge of Christian theology if you want – I still wonder why in the hell I took a class on Film & Theology in the first place!  (Actually I know – the American Studies class I wanted to take was full.)

GOOD MORNING VIETNAM: AN UN-WAR WAR MOVIE

Most movies dealing with wars prior to the Vietnam War were straight forward.  Everyone knew that John Wayne and Ronald Reagan played the good and honourable American soldiers, fighting for a just cause against evil Nazis and diabolical Japanese.  But after the Vietnam War, the rules for war movies changed.  Americans were no longer sure that their cause was always right, that wars were always glorious, and that soldiers were always heroes.  Instead of stating good versus evil as an absolute, war movies began to question right and wrong.  This new viewpoint was first seen in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1979 movie, Apocalypse Now and continued in such recent films as Full Metal Jacket and The Deerhunter.  Oliver Stone is one director who has especially made an effort to show the effects of Vietnam with his unofficial trilogy of Vietnam movies, Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July, and Heaven and Earth.

Good Morning Vietnam, directed by Barry Levinson, is another film that continues the trend of questioning what happened in Vietnam, the ethics of war, and making the viewer question who the good guys really were.  Most people would class this movie as a comedy first and a war movie only as an afterthought.  In their review of Good Morning Vietnam Sight & Sound wrote, “within its genre (and by now Vietnam films must be considered a genre), Good Morning Vietnam is a fine film.” (p.212).  Good Morning Vietnam succeeds as a war movie by breaking the conventions of the war movie.

Good Morning Vietnam tells the story of Adrian Cronauer, a popular Army DJ who is transferred from Greece to Vietnam where the army radio station has been playing a mixture of Lawrence Welk and Loretta Lynn.  Cronauer immediately switches to a loud rock and roll format for his show then proceeds to increasingly challenge authority by making jokes about the army and government, reading censored news, doctoring a tape of Richard Nixon so it appears that the Vice President is answering questions about his testicles’ size rather than the Vietnam people (“they’re small, wrinkled, and harmless”).  The climax of the film occurs when a local GI hangout called Jimmy Wah’s is bombed and Cronauer is saved moments before the blast by a Vietnamese boy he has befriended.  The news item is censored at the radio station but Cronauer, seeing the effect of the war first-hand for the first time, reads it anyway.  “Today, officially nothing happened.  A bomb did not explode at Jimmy Wah’s.  No one was officially killed and dozens of men were not wounded.  Once again, officially there was not…”  His superiors pull the plug at this point and Cronauer is suspended for blatantly disregarding regulations.  But the men in the field have grown to love Cronauer’s irreverent commentaries on life in Vietnam and his attacks on the government and army.  Cronauer doesn’t want to return to the radio but when his friend and apprentice, Garlick, takes him to meet soldiers in the field, Cronauer decides he has a duty to them.  Cronauer proposes another radical idea – broadcasting field interviews with the troops.  His superiors, still trying to get rid of him, agree and send him into the field on an unsecured road.  His and Garlick’s jeep hits a land mine and Cronauer is once again rescued by Tuan, the Vietnamese boy.  When his superiors find out Cronauer’s been fraternising with a known communist, a general who’s been friendly to Cronauer can no longer save him.  He arranges a quiet, honourable discharge for him instead.  The last shot of the movie shows Cronauer’s jet flying into the sky as a farewell tape played as voice-over has Cronauer quoting the Wizard of Oz: “There’s no place like home.  There’s no place like home!”

One characteristic of war movies is their focusing on one main character who is somehow changed by their experiences in war.  In this aspect, Good Morning Vietnam is faithful to its genre.  Monthly Film Bulletin says the movie “might be Cronauer deciding whether he owes more to himself or his countrymen; personal salvation or transcendence” (p.302).  Cronauer begins the movie as a money-spending, woman-chasing hedonist.  He is absorbed by the war but not effected [sic] by it.  But as the bureaucracy of the army begins to weigh on him and especially after the bombing of Jimmy Wah’s, Cronauer becomes a changed man, suddenly aware of the toll the war is taking.  This is reinforced by the montages shown over the music Cronauer plays.  Before the bombing, these montages show smiling soldiers building foxholes, riding down rivers, and playing volleyball in their compound.  After the bombing, the montages show what Cronauer has realised – there’s a war going on that’s killing people and destroying lives.  The music of Louie Armstrong’s emotional ballad, “What a Wonderful World”, is juxtaposed with images of Vietnamese protesters, women being beaten, riots, arrests, soldiers grimacing in the mud, terrorism.

If the main character in a war movie dies, his spirit is passed on.  Although Cronauer doesn’t die, after he is discharged we hear Garlick rebelliously introducing Cronauer’s farewell tape and we feel that his spirit has indeed been passed on to Garlick who will continue spreading Cronauer’s message.

But unlike other popular war movies, Good Morning Vietnam succeeds mainly by breaking war movie conventions.  The most obvious difference between this film and most war movies is that it’s a comedy. Director Barry Levinson uses humour the way other war movie directors use violence.  Graphic violence is war movies is intended to shock the viewer, to hit them with the realities of war.  The humour of this movie serves a similar purpose but in an understated rather than overstated fashion.  Sometimes the situation gets so bad for a person that there’s nothing they can do but joke.  And that’s what Cronauer is forced to do when he’s dropped in the hell of Vietnam.

Another convention of war movies that this movie breaks is that it has no actual scenes of combat.  Cronauer is situated in the middle of a war zone but by not actual seeing combat, the numbing effect of the war on Cronauer is heightened and the viewer shares his feeling of helplessness.  This feeling of helplessness is most effective in the one scene which is closest to a battle sequence.  After the climactic bombing of Jimmy Wah’s, Cronauer is shown kneeling amidst strewn dead and bleeding bodies, smoke billowing around him, the bar owner crying in shock, soldiers beating passers-by, fires burning.  The scene moves in slow motion and concludes with a close-up of Cronauer helpless among the carnage.

There are three main categories for theological concepts – liberation, God, and humanity.  Good Morning Vietnam deals mostly with themes within the “Humanity” category. As with most films about Vietnam, one main theme is the question of what is right and wrong.  Vietnam is the first war where the Americans didn’t win and where technology allowed mothers and fathers to see their sons being defeated in the comfort of their own living rooms.  The clear distinction between good and bad of older war movies has become a question of right and wrong.

Another main issue is the nature of humanity.  Are the Vietnamese people evil sub-humans (like the Japanese stereotype in old war movies)?  Or are they human beings like everyone else?  Good Morning Vietnam, through the character of Cronauer, says that human beings are all the same – some are good and some are bad but its individual, not racial, differences which exist.  The Vietnamese characters of this movie enjoy baseball and telling jokes, love their families and their country, and can even befriend an American. Cronauer deals with the Vietnamese people as human beings – teaching them English and treating them to dinner.  But in a film which says war is useless and human beings are the victims, Cronauer is equally affected by the young American soldiers.  He talks to them on a highway and does some improvised comedy for them, realising that these young men are going into the jungle and may not return.  To humanise them, he asks them their names.  “Take care of yourselves.  I won’t forget you,” he tells them.  Near the end of the film, the sameness of the two races is highlighted.  Cronauer has one promise to fulfil before the MP’s take him to his plane.  A pick-up game of softball is played by the Vietnamese, the MP’s, Cronauer, Garlick – all together, all friends.  “Thank-you for being so kind.  We are so different.” says the Vietnamese girl Cronauer has fallen in love with.  “I say tomato, you say komat,” he replies illustrating that their differences are nothing more than words.

There is much evidence to support the idea of Cronauer as a Christ-figure.  In the movie, Cronauer manages to boost solider [sic] morale, attack authority, and befriend the locals.  As the Sight & Sound reviewer said, “This isn’t a DJ; he’s a saint.” (p.212)  Cronauer acts as a “voice of God” to the masses of soldiers, who like Christians, listen to him preach and absorb his beliefs. When Cronauer takes Trinh’s family to the theatre, there are twelve people including the Judas-figure, Tuan.  He comes to the hellish jungles of Vietnam from the paradise of Greece.  When he leaves, his jet is shown flying into the Heavens as his voice is heard talking of “going home”. But although he is gone, through the farewell tape, Cronauer and his message is “resurrected”.

If Cronauer is a Christ-figure, the parallels extend to the other characters.  General Taylor is an exasperated Pontius Pilate.  He wants nothing to do with the situation.  He feels sorry for Cronauer and doesn’t want to punish him; only to do what the people want (“If the men want him, I want him!”).  Lieutenant Hauk and Sergeant Major Dickerson are jealous Pharisees, anxious to stop the growing popularity of Cronauer.  They appeal to General Taylor, “He’s subversive.  If we don’t stop him now, what’re we going to do when he’s ten times as popular?”  Tuan, the Vietnamese boy is Judas.  He befriends Cronauer only to betray him by being a North Vietnamese sympathiser.  Garlick is a disciple of Cronauer who will continue spreading his word after he’s gone.

Good Morning Vietnam is a war movie that succeeds by not being a war movie.  It uses humour as a substitute for the usual violence.  It shows no combat to heighten the viewer’s sense of helplessness.  And Good Morning Vietnam is a theological movie that succeeds in retelling the story of Christ’s betrayal without being overtly religious.

RIP Robin Williams (And My Ten Favourite Robin Williams Movies)

Shocking news today that Robin Williams has died, apparently by suicide.  Based on the way my Facebook feed lit up with the news, it’s a pretty safe bet that I’m not unique in thinking of him as one of my favourite actors.

His range in both comedies and dramas was outstanding and his genuine humanity shone through in all of his roles.

Here are my Top 10 Robin Williams movies in order (along with a couple thoughts about why I liked them so much)…

10. Popeye/Hook/Death to Smoochy/One Hour Photo – Okay, I said I’d pick 10 but I have to start with a four way tie for a few favourites that capture his range – two children’s movies, one a comic book adaptation that “bombed” when released and one that was a Spielberg blockbuster and two others that had Williams playing against type in a couple really dark films.

9.  Being Human – I admit I don’t really remember much about this movie.  But I remember being fairly taken by its concept when it came out.

8.  Patch Adams – Williams was one of the masters at films that blended hilarious comedy and intense drama and this is one of the prime examples of that.

7. Mrs. Doubtfire – selfishly, one of the saddest aspects of this news is that the planned sequel will now never be completed.

6.  Aladdin – still one of the best voice over performances ever in an animated movie

5.  Good Will Hunting – his part wasn’t the lead but he won his only Oscar for his supporting role in the film that also gave us Ben Affleck and Matt Damon

4.  What Dreams May Come – not one of his best known films but simply amazing story and also early CGI

3.  The Fisher King – criminally underrated.  Don’t tell the Piracy Police but in the pre-Internet, pre-torrent days, I used to spend hours dubbing rental VHS movies so I would have copies for my personal library.  This was one I watched over and over, stunned at what a good performance Williams gave.

2. Good Morning Vietnam – I took a “Religion in Film” class when I did my semester exchange in York England.  One assignment was to write an essay about Christ-figures in war films.  Everyone else in the class picked traditional war films like “Platoon”, “Full Metal Jacket”, “Apocalypse Now”.  I was the only one to pick a comedy and besides my natural inclination to do something outside the expected, it was mostly so I had an excuse to watch this film over and over again.  Oh, and what a soundtrack too!

1. Dead Poets Society – I wasn’t there personally but when it came out, a friend who went to a screening said it was the first film he’d ever seen in a theatre where people stood up and applauded at the end.

It wasn’t one of his Hollywood movies but I also have to give special mention to his “Live at the Met” comedy special which was released in 1986.  I bought a copy on cassette tape and listened to it repeatedly. (I also still regularly quote from “Live at the Met” to this day)

In fact, it’s not too much of a stretch to say that eye-opening concert recording had an enormous effect on 13-year old, small town me in terms of how I view humour, profanity, freedom of expression, religion, politics and although I didn’t realise it at the time, the unbelievable hilarious joy of being a parent! 😉

Anyhow, here are some of his greatest moments…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1uWvvMsL5w

Here’s an AMA he did on Reddit which showed he had the heart of a geek among other things.

And as always, MetaFilter is a great place to go for insight and reminiscences.

22 Pictures That Prove We’re Living In The Future

Pretty amazing stuff!

Saturday Snap – Bouncy Castle Boy

Love how it looks like Pace is flying…

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Friday Fun Link – 20 Seconds of Tetris Madness

I used to love playing Tetris but I was never this good

Journey to the Grey Cup: The 2013 Saskatchewan Roughriders

Great TSN documentary (that I feel like I’ve posted already but if so, it’s worth watching again!)

Long Weekend Catch-Up – Happy, Sad, Funny, Tired

Didn’t do any blogging over the long weekend so I’ll catch up now…

Saturday Snap

Smiling Sasha

Sappy Sunday

Gah…so sad.

Music Monday

Guitar and Drums at the same time?  It’s like The White Stripes in a single body!

Tuesday

I have a headache and am now going to bed…

Friday Fun Link – If 70s Moms Had Blogs…

…they’d probably look a lot like this.

Throwback Thursday – Weeding #tbt

A couple thoughts on a massive fiction weeding project I did at Southeast Regional Library…

  • I’m sure this weeding project was literally the moment that I went from believing “All books are precious tomes of knowledge that should be preserved at all costs” to “Well, I guess if we’re buying new books all the time, we gotta get rid of some.  And since these ones are shitty, to the shredder they go!”  😉
  • Check out the command-line based ILS in the background – Dynix Classic.  Thankfully I grew up in the age of DOS and caught on pretty quickly to its quirks.
  • The office I’m in looks quite bare bones and that’s for good reason.  The office I actually worked out of was next door but since we had a vacant position at SRL while I was there, I got to use this empty office for some of my work (and make jokes about having two offices all the time as well!)

img1000 Weeding at Southeast Regional Library

How “Fifty Shades of Grey” Became a Bestseller and Hollywood Movie

In a thread where a poster is trying to show that “Fifty Shades of Grey” is not representative of the BSDM community like so many people think it is, a person who was part of the Twilight fan fiction community when the original version was written chimes in with a great explanation of how badly written, derivative Twilight fan fiction ever came to have the success that it did.