Myths and heroes: How are US soldiers portrayed in American war films?

I am going to talk about the notion of myths and heroes.

First of all, I would like to give a quick definition of that notion. Briefly, a myth as a story with a part of real or imaginary. Then, a hero is a person admired for his achievements, noble qualities and great courage and or is member of the story which tells the myth. Moreover, thieves can be fictional like Superman, Batman, or real like the soldier in the world.

To speak about this notion, I will speak about the soldier in war films and the issue is How are US soldiers portrayed in American war films?

I the soldier perceived as a hero for the American’s movie industry

The first document is a poster of the movie Glory. We can see in the background the American flag “stars and stripes”. in the foreground, we can see soldiers who are dressed in uniforms and caps. The soldiers are holding rifles with bayonets. The bottom of the poster is red which symbolizes the blood and life. Furthermore, the middle is a black recalls the horror of the war. In the trailer to the film Glory I can see mainly black soldiers.

Furthermore, the second document is the movie Black hawk down. The storyline is mission in Somalia on October 3, 1993 by the U.S Army rangers. This film focuses on the heroic efforts of various Rangers to get the downed back hawks. Then in the poster of the movie black hawk down, this poster is different from what we usually expect from a poster like Glory, because of the one color gold may be the sand. The soldier carrying a machine gun squatting down on a helicopter, his helmet is down as if he was taking a rest, tough his face makes us think he has tried a sort of camouflage. The slogan on the poster is “leave no man behind”. This slogan significate which means that the soldiers of this mission must look after one another. And yet the soldiers present on this poster is alone as if he has been left behind!

This battlefield is important because the television is diffusing pictures and reportages that dead American soldiers.

In the 2 documents, previously, we can see soldiers which are seen like heroes and those soldiers save people and even if they’re fighting a war. They are determinate for win the war but the soldiers are human people and may be these soldiers feel the horror of the war

II In the American’s movie the soldiers a anti-hero

In the poster Tigerland, the soldiers are all looking in opposite directions and looking down. By looking at the poster. The soldiers may feel lonely, isolated and waiting for an enemy attack but they might also be wondering why they are fighting this war and they could be questioning their duties as soldiers. We have the impression that they are overwhelmed by the burden of war. Besides one soldier distinguishes itself from others because he is standing and not wearing a helmet. He does not have a weapon either.

In the song: The universal soldier by Donovan wants to denounce war and highlights a contradiction: even if the soldier is used cannon folder and sacrifice his life for a cause, he cannot put the blame on a higher or far away authority

In this song, the soldier is considered as an anti-hero because he has made responsible for this actions. Donovan represented the soldier

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