329:question:329--week_14_questions_comments
Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
| Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revision | ||
| 329:question:329--week_14_questions_comments [2016/12/01 13:55] – [3 Questions about interpretation] cmorgan4 | 329:question:329--week_14_questions_comments [2016/12/01 18:39] (current) – [5 Comparing the reading to the movie] lmccuist | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
| The film not only had great character development, | The film not only had great character development, | ||
| - | I thought the scene where Ronnie had the flashback in the middle of his speech was done very well, and very accurate to the way PTSD can be triggered. | + | I thought the scene where Ronnie had the flashback in the middle of his speech was done very well, and very accurate to the way PTSD can be triggered. |
| Since most people have already noted the accuracy of the climate of the time, war, and the film's depiction of vets with PTSD, I want to point out the filmmakers did a great job with most of the historical aesthetics. Some of the hair and makeup was a bit off at times, yes, and the mustaches on some people may have been a little too much, but from the early 60s at the beginning of the film to the late 60s and then the 70s, **the vehicles, fashions, music, architecture, | Since most people have already noted the accuracy of the climate of the time, war, and the film's depiction of vets with PTSD, I want to point out the filmmakers did a great job with most of the historical aesthetics. Some of the hair and makeup was a bit off at times, yes, and the mustaches on some people may have been a little too much, but from the early 60s at the beginning of the film to the late 60s and then the 70s, **the vehicles, fashions, music, architecture, | ||
| Line 75: | Line 75: | ||
| --- // | --- // | ||
| - | Aside from the changing attitudes about the Cold War, Vietnam, race relations, etc. that began around 1990, I thought it was interesting that this film preceded the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 by one year. While the issue of having a character with a disability be played by an actor without that disability is a controversial choice, the harsh reality of the disabilities incurred by Kovic as depicted by Tom Cruise would have probably hit audiences hard. The horrifying conditions in the hospital, the trouble Kovic has getting around, and the fact that almost everyone in the film treats him differently because of his disabilities would have been on screen for everyone to see in a major film that got a lot of critical and popular attention. This film would have probably been in the minds of at least some Americans when the ADA was passed a year after its premiere. | + | Aside from the changing attitudes about the Cold War, Vietnam, race relations, etc. that began around 1990, I thought it was interesting that this film preceded the **Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990** by one year. While the issue of having a character with a disability be played by an actor without that disability is a controversial choice, the harsh reality of the disabilities incurred by Kovic as depicted by Tom Cruise would have probably hit audiences hard. The horrifying conditions in the hospital, the trouble Kovic has getting around, and the fact that almost everyone in the film treats him differently because of his disabilities would have been on screen for everyone to see in a major film that got a lot of critical and popular attention. |
| --- // | --- // | ||
| Line 84: | Line 84: | ||
| Caputo' | Caputo' | ||
| - | The chapter from //The Things They Carried// relates a great deal to the movie, although the book is more direct about it, naming off what the items were and how much they weighed. The chapter also mentions the mental and emotional burdens and the sacrifices -- the mental and emotional things they dropped -- that they endured throughout the war. We see this more visually than explicitly in the movie, **especially as veterans interacted with one another. They shared the pain, the emotional distress, the almost-bragging-almost-confessing when they discuss who they killed or how much death they saw.** //The Things They Carried// is a work of fiction, but it's one of the most powerful and influential stories about the war, so relating it to the movie gives us another layer of how it has been represented in media as opposed to real-life experiences. | + | The chapter from //The Things They Carried// relates a great deal to the movie, although the book is more direct about it, naming off what the items were and how much they weighed. The chapter also mentions the mental and emotional burdens and the sacrifices -- the mental and emotional things they dropped -- that they endured throughout the war. We see this more visually than explicitly in the movie, **especially as veterans interacted with one another. They shared the pain, the emotional distress, the almost-bragging-almost-confessing when they discuss who they killed or how much death they saw.** //The Things They Carried// is a work of fiction, but it's one of the most powerful and influential stories about the war, so relating it to the movie gives us another layer of how it has been represented in media as opposed to real-life experiences. |
| //The Things they Carried// describes the physical, mental, and emotional weights and sacrifices of the Vietnam War. While the soldiers have varying talismans that keep them grounded, they are also weighed down by the memories of killing the enemy soldier as well as of their comrades being killed. **Take these memories, add a sense of hopelessness from the war dragging on without definitive signs of victory or defeat, and a sprinkle of anxiety for a sudden enemy attack or mine blowing up, and you have the perfect recipe for future PTSD. This reading compliments the film's portrayal of soldier distress and the hidden emotional and mental tolls of war.** | //The Things they Carried// describes the physical, mental, and emotional weights and sacrifices of the Vietnam War. While the soldiers have varying talismans that keep them grounded, they are also weighed down by the memories of killing the enemy soldier as well as of their comrades being killed. **Take these memories, add a sense of hopelessness from the war dragging on without definitive signs of victory or defeat, and a sprinkle of anxiety for a sudden enemy attack or mine blowing up, and you have the perfect recipe for future PTSD. This reading compliments the film's portrayal of soldier distress and the hidden emotional and mental tolls of war.** | ||
329/question/329--week_14_questions_comments.1480600526.txt.gz · Last modified: 2016/12/01 13:55 by cmorgan4