View: Shift in Hollywood's view on Vietnam

WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) -- There appears to be a substantial shift in the way Hollywood is looking at a conflict that until now was largely seen in unfavorable light -- America's war in Vietnam.

Hollywood has long been the nation's mirror, reflecting unto the silver screen the public's inner feelings and the nation's state-of-mind. Tinsel town traditionally gave the people what they, the money paying ticket buyers, really wanted to see. Hollywood, after all, is in the money-making business, even if they do call it entertainment.

Most people will agree that Sept. 11 brought about fundamental changes in the way most Americans view the military and the country's new war on terrorism. But what is particularly interesting in this shift vis-à-vis the military, is that it began well before the Sept. 11 attacks, when films such as "Black Hawk Down" and this week's top box office billing, "We Were Soldiers" first went into production.

Remember, shooting on these films began well before the Sept. 11 tragedies, and when the country's mood was not so "let's roll" gung-ho.

But that change is clearly here. We've seen it with "Black Hawk Down," and now with the latest Vietnam blockbuster, "We Were Soldiers," starring Mel Gibson. As in the Somalia epic, "We Were Soldiers" portrays Vietnam in a far more favorable atmosphere than ever seen before, giving some sense to that mad war. Not that the film tries to justify war or make sense of it, far from it. "We Were Soldiers" emphasizes the insanity of conflict and the senseless waste of human lives. It strengthens the fundamental issue that all soldiers -- and the handful of eye witnesses who choose to accompany those soldiers to the front lines of hell -- have always know; that when it comes right down to it, you are not fighting for God and country, but for the man squatting in the foxhole next to yours. " As one summary on the film's web page denotes, it's "a tribute to the nobility of those men under fire, their common acts of uncommon valor, and their loyalty to and love for one another."

The film seems to have broken through a major psychological barrier that until now Hollywood movie makers viewed as almost too taboo a subject to approach.

"We Were Soldiers," is based on the book "We Were Soldiers Once... and Young," written by Joe Galloway, the United Press International reporter who covered the battle, and Lt. Col. Harold Moore, who commanded the elite American Air Cavalry units at Ia Drang, a small clearing in a landing zone called X-Ray, and that became known as 'The Valley of Death,' where 400 young troopers were surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. The unit became entangled in one of the most savage battles in U.S. history.

The film, directed by Randall Wallace ("Braveheart" and "Pearl Harbor) sets new milestones in two important areas left untouched by Hollywood directors until now.

First, unlike any film of that genre, it portrays the North Vietnamese soldiers not as horrible, mad monsters, but as humans with emotions, feelings and family back home for whom, they too cared for. It depicts the fears of the North Vietnamese soldiers to be equal to those of the Americans they were fighting. The average Vietnamese had no greater desire to die that the American he was fighting.

As the North Vietnamese officer points out at the end of the battle, it's a shame that more soldiers will have to die before the war can end.

In one of the closing scenes the North Vietnamese colonel picks up a small American flag that was planted in a tree stump after the battle. He looks it over, and very gently places it back. It's a very moving scene and symbolic of the respect shown by one combatant toward others who died for what they believed in, regardless of their ideological differences.

Secondly, and more important to this particular essay, is the way the American troops are portrayed, along with the general message that the movie sends out. One cannot watch this film and not shed a tear or two.

Yet, this is the story of only one battle, one of many that took place over the course the war. The only reason this one ever got told was because Galloway, then a young UPI correspondent, heard that something was happening on that particular hill, an insignificant knoll among thousands in the dense jungles of southeast Asia. He hitched a ride on one of the helicopters ferrying ammunition into the hot landing zone and American casualties out. Once in, it was practically impossible to get out. He was there and was able to tell the story, beautifully, one may add.

"We Were Soldiers" does not attempt to answer questions of the war, of whether it was a right war or a wrong war to wage. In fact is raises the fundamental question, as Lt. Col. Moore's (Mel Gibson) daughter asks in the film, "Daddy, what is war?" A question that even a seasoned soldier has a difficult to time to answer. A question that the reporter who covered the story cries over, not knowing exactly where to start, or how to answer it.

Rather "We Were Soldiers" makes us, the viewer, ask the question that maybe, just maybe, this war was not all worthless. With the wisdom of time and history on our side, we often look back and assess that Vietnam was a wasted war. But then again, maybe it was not. And maybe Hollywood is just beginning to realize it too.