Two viewpoints on the movie "Platoon"
1987 1987-02Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 16 →
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• "The Middle East Today: The Struggle of the Palestinian People." Speaker: Ralph Schoenman, Director, Council on Human Needs, For mer Director Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Friday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m. • "Students Speak-Out: America's Youth and the Fight Against War." Speakers: Miko Small, co-founder, B.A.S.I.C. Peace, A Bay Area Network of student activists; Matt Thompson, co-editor, The Declaration, an independent newspaper at Washington H.S.; Suzanne Forsyth, Students for SocialSOCIALIST ACTION FEBRUARY 1987 15 idealist who's looking to "make something of himself."
Chris tells his new-found buddies, who are all poor, working-class whites and Blacks, that he thought poor people shouldn't be the only ones going to Vietnam.
A Black GI responds to this altruism by saying, "You have to be rich to even think that way, man. Don't you know that rich Ricky Francisco people have been fucking over poor people since the beginning of time?" In its rare quiet moments, vignettes such as this punctuate the movie.
Through the medium of letters to his grandmother, Chris Taylor narrates the battles that not only take place in the jungle but also within 2nd Platoon.
Like a microcosm of American society in the 1960s, the platoon is divided into factions: "heads" vs. "straights," "doves" vs. "hawks," "good" sergeant (liberal) vs. "bad" sergeant (right-winger).
In addition, the platoon's battle fucking over poor people since the beginning of time?") Many in the audience—a lot of them, undoubtedly, Vietnam vets-were crying during this scene.
In a sense, the rest of the movie is anticlimatic. A sub-plot of murder and revenge is the legacy of the village atrocities. The climatic battle scene becomes a symbol for the dispensation of justice, and Chris Taylor (who is a little too gallant to be credible) leaves Vietnam almost as confused as he was naive when he first arrived. But nobody in the audience leaves this movie unmoved and unthinking.
"Platoon" is a powerful movie that stands on its own as a work of art. Of course, many political statements can be derived from "Platoon." That's its strength-and to some-its weakness. Some people may feel that the film doesn't have an explicit enough political line. Moviegoers will have to draw their own conclusions.
Director Stone's symbols, however, are strikingly unambiguous. Multiply the experiences and scenes in this brutal movie thousands of times and you'll have a feel for what was the conscious policy of U.S. imperialism in Vietnam.
What the director depicts as his personal experience in Vietnam was, in fact, a general policy of genocide and terrorism ("search and destroy") inflicted on the Vietnamese people.
The only real humans in this movie are the Vietnamese-whom we catch only glimpses of as victims aňd avengers, and the Black GIs, who seem sympathetic to the victims (the Vietnamese), and become victims themselves. The North Vietnamese soldiers are portrayed as shadowy adversaries, but they leave a truthful and indelible impression: They are brave, dedicated and tough.
If you know any youth out there who might be budding "Rambos" who are dying to go to Central America, take them to see "Platoon." No More Vietnams! St., Rm. 308, S.F. Tel. 821-0458