Popular Culture Review Vol. 8, No. 2, August 1997 | Page 59

BontmtheFow^^

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to hear about it, to think about it."^ Such moral dilemmas, however,
are the very issue that must be faced in order to come to terms with
the tragedy of Vietnam.
The self-imposed Hollywood quarantine on Vietnam War
films was lifted in the late 1970s with the first wave of films which
included Coming Home, The Deer Hunter, and Go Tell the Spartans,
all released in 1978. Francis Ford Coppola's epic film Apocalypse
Now, released in 1979, is credited as one of the first films to force the
unpleasantness of Vietnam upon the American public from the silver
screen.® Beginning in 1986, a second wave of films appeared, including
Platoon, Full Metal Jacket, and Born on the Fourth of July. American
society was exposed to a darker, more critical picture of the war.
The Role of Film In American Society
Historically, the "stories" of a culture communicate the
myths, or "public dreams" to others. Joseph Campbell suggests that
myths are the material of life, which help provide a perspective on
life's events.^ Campbell further explains that myths serve a
sociological function, validating existing social orders. John Heilman
concurs in his work, American Myth and the Legacy of Vietnam: "A
myth is our explanation of history that can also serve as a compelling
idea for our future."^® Heilman argues that Vietnam challenged
Americans to reconcile the events of the war against the American
myth which valued revolutionary ideals and visions of the New
Frontier.
The fundamental values held by society are inherent in
myths. W alter Fisher illustrates the values found in two
perspectives of the American Dream.^^ Values of egalitarianism an d .
brotherhood are contrasted with the values of achievement and
personal success. The competing value systems within the American
Dream are relevant in examining both Vietnam War films and
American attitudes toward Vietnam.
In contemporary society, myths are commonly found in a
visual medium — film. Film "stories," like myths, serve the dual
purpose of educating and entertaining viewing audiences.^^ In
addition, popular films and American society are related by the
reciprocal influence they have on one other. Janice Hocker Rushing
and Thomas Frentz explain that films reflect the values and myths of
the existing society. Film also "often dramatizes symptoms of