Difference between revisions of "329-2010--Week 13 Questions/Comments"
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I think the film did a very good job at portraying the symptoms of PTSD. From the moment Ron was told to basically forget about the death of a fellow soldier, it was obviously going to bother him for the rest of his life. The stress, flashbacks, alcoholism, survivor guilt, and depression were all evident throughout the film, although some developed earlier than others. It was accurate to see Ron's character feel a disconnection from the rest of his family and neighborhood when he returned because noone really understood what he had gone throught. Separation and isolation seem to plague Ron from the moment she leaves Vietnam after his injury. It was really expressed well to the viewers for this loss of identity and meaning. On the same note of when Ron arrives back in the United States, he faces another issue that I believe the film does a good job of representing. The complex feelings of the United States as a whole was accurately portrayed. Many welcomed Ron back, and told him he did a good boy, even though there personal feelings differed. Then there were those that actively lashed out against him for fighting. Even Ron himself is torn between what he feels in the beginning and how he feels in the end. Passionate for his country, he defends it always. But by the end, and what seems to pull him out of his misery, is this vigor for his opposition to the war. I think the film does a very good job of noting the disconnection in the U.S. during this time between soldiers, civilians, and government officals. - Victoria Y. | I think the film did a very good job at portraying the symptoms of PTSD. From the moment Ron was told to basically forget about the death of a fellow soldier, it was obviously going to bother him for the rest of his life. The stress, flashbacks, alcoholism, survivor guilt, and depression were all evident throughout the film, although some developed earlier than others. It was accurate to see Ron's character feel a disconnection from the rest of his family and neighborhood when he returned because noone really understood what he had gone throught. Separation and isolation seem to plague Ron from the moment she leaves Vietnam after his injury. It was really expressed well to the viewers for this loss of identity and meaning. On the same note of when Ron arrives back in the United States, he faces another issue that I believe the film does a good job of representing. The complex feelings of the United States as a whole was accurately portrayed. Many welcomed Ron back, and told him he did a good boy, even though there personal feelings differed. Then there were those that actively lashed out against him for fighting. Even Ron himself is torn between what he feels in the beginning and how he feels in the end. Passionate for his country, he defends it always. But by the end, and what seems to pull him out of his misery, is this vigor for his opposition to the war. I think the film does a very good job of noting the disconnection in the U.S. during this time between soldiers, civilians, and government officals. - Victoria Y. | ||
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| + | As many people have mentioned, I was shocked by the conditions in the VA Hospital. As terrible as the treatment from the staff at the hospital was, what really surprised me, was that no one ever had any family visit them. Ron's brother makes a lame excuse about it when Ron returns home, but his parents never even try. Long Island is not that far away from Brooklyn. Did the military only allow prostitutes and drug dealers to visit soldiers in hospital? Born on the Fourth of July also provided clear insight into the mind of the American military before and during the early stages of the Vietnam War. When the Marines are talking to the high schoolers, they talk about how the United States has never lost a war and never will. Later, when Ron is watching the news with his father, a news reporter asks an American officer how they are going to fight the Viet Cong and NVA. He responds with disdain, "I think that anything that lives in a cave can be weeded out." These scenes show the superiority and invincibility that many Americans felt. - Michael G. | ||
== Things the movie got wrong == | == Things the movie got wrong == | ||
