A BLACK VIETNAM MOVIE?
Gary N. Gray
Thirty years ago the American Military
machine departed from the small Southeast Asian country called Vietnam. The
American people had to learn that country’s villages and cities. Saigon,
(Ho Chi Minh City), Haiphong Harbor, Hue, Hanoi, Da Nang, Pla Ku, Mie Kong
Delta, Mai Li, Cam Ranh Bay, Quy Nhon, Nha Trang, and Can Tho, were some of
the names that they would recall. The United States was defeated in that war
and Americans sensed the experience of humility.
Walter Cronkite, in 1968, said it every evening in our living rooms.
The silver screen has and will continue to
capture this story of war.
The past war movies painted illusions of
grandeur and glory. Fighting a war was portrayed as a fantastic voyage and
an exciting event where one could become an instant hero. Fighting a war was
a means to saving the motherland, fatherland, or homeland. The old American
War Movies created a misconception that the United States military was
always right and always won the battle. The United States military was
perceived as the good guys, while the Germans, the Italians and occupied
French territories and Japanese were looked upon as inhuman and the bad
guys. The Korean Conflict was not
exempt from this picture. The true horror of war, film producers, writers,
and directors shielded Americans from viewing. The graphic and actual events
of war were not shown.
VIETNAM movies changed all of that. Film
directors, writers, and producers literally said, “Here it is”, it
really did not matter whether Americans wanted to see it or not, they were
shown the true brutality of war through cinema.
Many white producers, directors, and
writers forced America to see war as it really was. These movies were
dissimilar to the squeaky-clean movies of The Great War, World War II, or
the Korean Conflict.
Over the past thirty years there have been many movies on the subject of the American-Vietnam War. Yet not a single movie has been made on the African American experience, through the eyes of African Americans. The movie industry has literally dismissed the African Americans' participation in the Vietnam War. It is obvious that they have been systematically excluded, and that has created a void that warrants investigation.
Most depictions of African American
soldiers in Viet Nam fall into four distinct categories: drug addicts,
cowards, company class clowns, or super heroes.
Look at the very beginning. The movie
starring John Wayne, “The Green Berets”; (1964) started a series of
movies on the subject. The second one was a French film entitled, “The
Anderson Platoon” (1967). This was a documentary on an American platoon
fighting in Viet Nam. These two
films just scratched the surface much like their predecessors of the 40’s
and 50’s.
In 1978, films containing subjects that
were taboo started being shown on the silver screen. A prime example of this
was the film “Coming Home”, with Jon Voigt and Jane Fonda. This film
dealt with a love affair between a married woman single and a disabled
veteran returning from Viet Nam. “Coming Home” was heralded as the first
movie that dealt with the issue of sex and the disabled. The first movie
where a wheelchair bound person had a love interest. The movie ended with
Fonda’s macho Marine husband walking into the Pacific Ocean. The movie
viewer was forced to come to his/her own ending.
Another movie dealing with the issue of
disability and war was, “Born on the 4th of July”, (1989) Tom
Cruse portrayed an angry disabled veteran who comes home to a changed
America. He tells everybody how he feels and what he is thinking. The movie
is based on the book written by Ron Kovic. Mr. Kovic started a new political
group called, Veterans Against The War, which still exist.
Kovic would meet with President Richard
Millhouse Nixon to discus the issue of the Viet Nam War. The 1972 Republican
Convention in Florida many protesters gathered to address the issue of
returning troops. Mr. Kovic made a resounding speech for his fallen comrades
in Viet Nam and stated that America must help the men returning home. Mr.
Kovic was given a standing ovation that night.
“Apocalypse Now”, and “The Deer
Hunter”, (1978), centered on the complete bizarre crazy events of war and
how they affect the soldiers mentality and often distorts their view of the
world. Both movies showed how war causes people to change and how it often
has a lifetime adverse effect. These two movies were the beginning of the
tell all war movies.
“Platoon” (1986), “Full Metal
Jacket” (1987), “Hamburger Hill” (1987), and “Casualties of War”
(1988) addressed of the complete horrors of war. No one ever thought
American solders would rape, kidnap, kill, or murder non-combatants, but
these movies exposed these events.
My favorite French actress, Linh Dan Pham,
plays the part of an adopted Vietnamese daughter of a wealthy French family
in the French film, “Indochine,” (1992) She falls in love with a
French Captain who happens to be the same Captain that her mother loved when
the war initially broke out. The French authorities arrest Pham. While in
custody Pham becomes very political and leader of the new North Vietnamese
government. Thirty years later Pham’s French mother tells Pham’s story
to her only son.
“Good Morning Viet Nam”, (1988),
starring Robin Williams, in a very interesting film about love and war.
Williams started a new Radio show in Saigon. Armed Forces radio started each
day with that bellowing voice saying, “Good Morning Viet Nam!” He played
rock and roll, but the officers wanted to listen to the softer 1950’s
music. He falls in love with a resident of the city and war separates them;
he is sent home without the love of his life.
We cannot forget the two movies series,
“Missing in Action”, staring Chuck Norris and “Rambo”, staring
Sylvester Stallion. Where a single American man wins against the Asian
world. The odds are ten to one, but Rambo and Braddock beat the enemy.
The movie industry dismisses the African
American experience; that should be investigated. Blacks are only portrayed
as sidekicks in the movie “BAT 21” (1992) with Danny Glover and Gene
Hackman. The brave black soldier helping the white solider out of danger.
The Viet Nam movie genre ends with
remembrances of the warriors' past, “Letters-Home from Viet Nam”,
(1988), and “Uncommon Valor”, (1983) making the viewers realize what
America has lost and what America will never get back.
These two films retrace the activities of solders who had been in
combat through flash backs and letters.
In the last four years (1971-1975) of the
Viet Nam War, sixty five percent of (NCO’S) non- commissioned officers
were either African American or Latino teenagers. Their story should be
told; Americans want to know what happen to these men.
This absence of Black soldiers could be a
shout, a wake up call to all African-American producers, writers, and
directors, the Hughes Brothers, Allen and Albert, Spike Lee, F. Gary Gray
(no-relations), John Singleton, Carl Franklin, Forrest Whitaker, Bill Cosby,
Oprah Winfry, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mario & Melvin Van Peebles, Bill
Duke, etc. Maybe these movie moguls can make this a reality.
THAT IS THE GRAY LINE