…the documentary about Vietnam.
I just saw it yesterday, in a depressing one-two punch, having watched Apocalypse Now for the first time the day before (I know…but I was one when it came out!)
I’m just interested in other people’s reactions: what did you think when you first saw the movie? What kind of reception did it receive? Was it controversial? Did it affect your view of the war?
As for my reaction…mostly just horrified and numb. Words really fail me here: the violence, the destruction - I just don’t know how to react. There was a scene where the former-POW, Coker, was speaking to a group of school children, telling them about how one’s childhood is important because it introduces the values needed to grow up and fight in a war (I’m paraphrasing a lot here), and I was just so sad, and thought, but shouldn’t we raise our children to be teachers and writers and doctors and chefs? And here we are in another war, and more death, and it’s just too much.