No film so perfectly encapsulates the generation gap in America in the ’60s thanJohn Wayne’s corny Vietnam War epic,The Green Berets. The genre has reached such a level of ubiquity and cliché that soon it birthed its own parody in the form ofTropic Thunder. There’s no shortage of productions exploring the political nuances and the social ramifications of the war today, but that was a different story in 1968.
Adapting the 1965 best-selling novel of the same name to theaters, it boasted John Wayne in the lead, withThe Fugitivestar David Janssen, Jim Hutton,and George Takeiin supporting roles. The Vietnam War was a travesty in many respects. Blame US Defense Secretary Robert McNamara. For the movie, that is. Come to think of it, blame him for the war too. Reactions to the action flick were unkind. For screenwriters, journalists, and directors, it only remains relevant because it is the ultimate antithesis of a sincere war movie.
The Green Berets
Give War a Chance
You might think that the Pentagon would leap at the chance to film a patriotic bestseller with a huge A-lister. Not so,according to the book’s author, Robin Moore.McNamara didn’t want John Wayne in this film, nor did he wish for the film to be made at all.Wayne bought the rights, and through his influence, coerced the Pentagon to cooperate on the production. As part of the deal, the US Department of Defense was empowered to edit out or insert whatever they saw fit. And it shows. Wayne’s character wins over skeptical journalists by allowing them to embed in military units, learning to embrace the conflict if only they’d travel to Southeast Asia and stop listening to out-of-touch peaceniks.
Forget the fact that Wayne is too damn old to be a commando, the phony jungle setting, or that many real American special forces ditched their uniforms to don Levis 501s.The directing trio of Wayne, Mervyn LeRoy, and Ray Kellogg unwisely chose to present hostilities as two armies in symmetrical warfare. In simple terms, it is pro-war propaganda that intentionally obscures thereality of the Vietnam Warto bolster public support.
How Top Gun: Maverick Works as Military Propaganda
Joseph Kosinski’s Top Gun movie used intricate mechanisms to clean the army’s reputation and was effective propaganda. Let’s call it “film-washing.”
“The Funniest Movie We Have Seen in a Long Time …”
Hollywood waited years to finally produce anything remotely truthful pertaining to the Vietnam War, manyfilmed by and starring veterans. UntilThe Boys in Company C, there were no believable depictions; no unseen enemies in underground tunnels, ambushes, contempt for commanding officers, drug abuse, and general confusion and nihilism.The Green Beretsproduced a backlash due to its grandiose plot and inauthentic vibe. Oliver Stone’sPlatoonaddressed the bogus representation of jungle warfare and realistically reflected the dark inner-politics, popularizing the term “frag,” i.e. blowing up your lieutenant with a fragmentation grenade to avoid having to comply with suicidal orders.
Full Metal Jacketwas also inspired by the film. Director Stanley Kubrick based it on the memoirs of Vietnam vet Gustav Hasford, wherein Wayne’s film is rebuked as “the funniest movie we have seen in a long time.” War correspondent andApocalypse Now&FMJscreenwriter Michael Herr likewise derisively mentioned the 1968 movie in his writings.The subject of ridicule among critics, historians, and soldiers, everyone “in country” loathed it, as chronicled in the bookFrom Hanoi to Hollywood.Fittingly,Full Metal Jacket’s protagonist, Joker, and his entire squad, jokingly compare the war to a cowboy movie, echoing Roger Ebert’s observation that Wayne reduced the war to a hokey western.
Platoon Cast Describes Intense and Grueling Training Camp for Iconic Vietnam War Movie
Platoon stars Charlie Sheen and John C. McGinley spoke to The Guardian in celebration of the film’s 35th anniversary.
Setting the Record Straight
In the years since John Wayne’s character, Colonel Kirby, spouted the line, “Out here, due process is a bullet,” films have been living that depiction down.The Green Beretsdoesn’t even have the excuse of “hindsight bias” like the 1964 filmA Yank in Viet-Nam.The Green Beretswas released in 1968 when the war was clearly going off the rails. Naturally, it’s notbeloved by combat veterans. In an interview with theMilitary Officers Association of America, veteran Dale Dye cited bad war movies as the impetus for his career as a film consultant:
“So, while it may be partially about fantasies, Hollywood intrigued me and allowed me to further an agenda. I had seen practically every military movie, but most of them pissed me off becauseI didn’t think it was an accurate or fair portrayal of the men and women that I served with.”
Moore, ironically, claimed that his book was factual, drawing from his patriotic experiences. Never mind that Moore was convicted of tax fraud, robbing the same government he pledged to defend.His true motivations and intent remain unclear. Not quite the legacy John Wayne was anticipating. Misjudging the zeitgeist, The Duke’s jingoistic war picture was about 10 years too late.
