This relates to a few topics that we discussed in class.
Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979) still reigns as one of the greatest films of the twentieth century and certainly as one of the most inspired films about America’s engagement in the Vietnam War. Yet, even though Coppola’s film is anchored in the Vietnam War, it seems to be much less about the Vietnam War (in terms of strategies, battles, and outcomes) and more about how war affects the psyche and the soul of people fighting in war ~ in this war. One of the film’s many hallmarks is its opening sequence, which does not include the film’s title or film credits (these appear at the end of the nearly three-hour film). Moreover, the opening sequence is nearly eight minutes long, which is quite a bit longer than standard opening sequences. And this sequence plays out in the context of The Doors’ song, “The End.” Please think about this opening sequence in terms of content and mood. What sort of mood is created by the sequence? What elements (lighting, setting, depiction of character, etc.) go into creating this mood? How do sound effects and the title track (“The End”) contribute to creating this mood? Indeed, how important is music to creating this mood? How does lighting (daylight, darkness, shadows, light) shape the mood of the opening sequence? Would the same effect have been achieved if the title track had not been included? What does the audience learn about Captain Willard in this sequence? We will watch this opening in class, but the clip is also included in this post.
As Frederick Downs notes in the Preface to his memoir, The Killing Zone (1978), he has written this book because he finds it “necessary now to give another view of Vietnam, that of the day-to-day life of an infantryman on the ground.” He writes further that he has “always been asked what [he] thought about Vietnam, but never what it was like to fight in Vietnam. This [he declares to the reader] is the way it was for us in the platoon of Delta one-six.” Why do you think he finds it necessary to offer an infantryman’s perspective on the Vietnam War? And what, exactly, does his perspective offer that an historical or a journalistic account of the war cannot deliver? How does he convey the day-to-day-life of a platoon? Were there any particular sections of this excerpt that stood out to you? In class, we shall deepen our engagement with the text through a writing exercise in the form of a letter.
Hi everyone ~ Here is a Vietnam War protest song, which I thought you all would be interested in.
A popular style for men in the 1960’s were mod suits. This type of style originated in England which consisted of short tailored, tight-fitting jackets.
A popular shoe for men during this time were Chelsea boots, inspired by the Beatles.
These fashionable statements are reemerging in today’s fashion and are worn by many celebrities today, for example Kayne West.
In present-day politics, the environment continues to be an important topic, as well as a topic that is highly fraught. Indeed, even though most of the world’s climate scientists agree that there is irrefutable scientific evidence to confirm that human activity contributes significantly to climate change and global warming, there are politicians and members of the public who state that the element of human activity is debatable, with some politicians eve suggesting that “climate change” is a hoax. When Rachel Carson first published Silent Spring, she too met with fierce opposition, from politicians as well as from manufacturers of the chemical ingredients she was calling into question. What is your take on the ongoing debates surrounding our environment? For, example, if the majority of leading scientists agree that climate change is exacerbated by human activity, or that DDT is a chemical with lethal consequences for humans and animals (other than the so-called “pests” targeted by the substance), should politicians be allowed to debate scientific evidence? If yes, why? If no, why not? How are politicians equipped to plausibly challenge scientific findings? What are some of the reasons for believing scientific evidence, over policy considerations? Why might politicians and lobbyists challenge scientific findings? And are these challenges credible? If yes, how so?
Given some of the early backlash against the Women’s Movement, as well as the difficulty of trying to prompt society to become aware of its long-standing sexism and gender discrimination, Betty Friedan was concerned that the presence of lesbians in the Women’s Movement could slow or derail the movement. More precisely, she was anxious that the mainstream misperception that lesbians hate men would be applied to all women. Was Friedan’s exclusion of lesbians from the Second Congress to Unite Women in 1970 justified? Indeed, was the formation of the Lavender Menace outside the Women’s Movement, together with the formation of other groups of disaffected women, notably African-American and Latino women, the start of the weakening of the mainstream Movement? A Movement, which—in its Second Wave iteration—came to an end when the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) was defeated in Washington in 1982.
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