Myths and heroes: war on screen

MYTHS AND HEROES

• WAR ON SCREEN

I´m going to talk about the following notion: myths and heroes. But first of all, let me define the notion.

A myth is an ancient story that is based on popular beliefs or explains natural and historical events. It can also be a widely believed but false story or idea. A hero is someone who is admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities, who has performed an act of great courage under very dangerous conditions, and is regarded as a model. It usually is the most important character on a play, story or film.

To illustrate this notion, I am going to look up at war on screen and we are going to ask ourselves the following question:  ARE SOLDIERS ALWAYS PORTRAYED AS HEROES ON WAR FILMS?

The figure of the soldier in films has changed in time. The way soldiers are portrayed reflects how the wars they were fighting are perceived.  I am to give two examples so that you can understand this idea.

On the one hand, we have the World War 2, the “good war”, there was no debate about who the enemy was/why Nazi Germany had to be fought and defeated.  Soldiers were seen as heroes who were willing to sacrifice their life because they felt it was their duty and they believed in democracy. So their reasons for fighting were justified. That´s why most of war films about that war emphasize the heroic dimension of the World War 2 soldiers.

On the other hand, the Vietnam War was highly controversial. Many Americans didn´t see why America should get involved in a conflict that wasn´t theirs to solve. Soldiers weren´t seen as heroes anymore, they were seen as fallen heroes because they had committed cruel killings of civilians. So the myth of the respectable soldier started to be challenged. But we must remember that most young American soldier’s didn´t feel concerned by the Vietnam War; lots of them were opposed to it. They must have been even traumatized by what they saw and did.   This soldiers couldn´t even find a job and adapt after the war, because people didn’t trust them anymore. They were considered as murderers. We can see all of this in the film: it wasn´t my war, where the film director portrays Vietnam retreads as victims who didn´t ask to be part of the war. They are victims because they had to fight a war that they didn’t believe in, but also because the Americans blamed them for it.

In conclusion, the soldiers usually illustrate the impact of the war on the individual. They can be portrayed as brave, strong but also as discouraged, fragile or even traumatized. But in my opinion, I think that in both cases they are being heroes because at least they have enough courage to keep fighting and doing their jobs, instead of running away.

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