GOING TO THE MOVIES
Morris Dickstein
BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME
Until recentl y o ur interes t in Vi etn am was at a low ebb. T h e
border wa r between Vi etn am a nd Cambodi a, fought on terra in lon g
famili ar to u s, caused ha rdl y a murmur o f excitement in the press . Our
nos ta lg ia fo r th e heady cultura l a tmos phere o f the sixti es kept g rowin g ,
but our a ttenti on
to
th e politi ca l issu es that agita ted th e period
declin ed dras ti ca ll y. Even a t its p ea k, the Vi etn am war cau sed onl y a
rippl e o f act ivity in Ho ll ywood a nd the publi shin g industry. Cl ose
to
h a lf th e mo vi es made durin g Wo rld Wa r II dea lt in some way with th e
war , but fo r filmma kers a nd publishers Vi etnam was marked down as
commercia l sui cide.
Thus our lon ges t and mos t heav il y covered wa r became in a sen se a
repressed . taboo subj ect, and th e human rea li ti es o f the confli ct o ft en
drop ped from view. Between 1942 and 1945 wh en there was no g rea t
di\'ision o f na ti on a l opini on , Holl ywood set out to sell th e war , boos t
mora le. a nd milk th e comba t of acti o n , thrill, anc! sentiment. At th e
same time a wh o le gen erati on o f Ameri can writers went into comba t
with d reams o f writin g th e Grea t Ameri can Novel ; la ter, in th e sixti es, I
suspect th e Ma ilers and Joneses kept their student deferments, burn ed
their dra ft card s. o r fl ed to Can ada.
Even durin g th e less popul a r Ko rean war Holl ywood gea red up to
do it s dut y and ma ke some do ll ars. The wa r was untimel y. as Ho ll y–
wood h ad just entered a n ew cycl e o f ' '''orld Wa r II mO\'ies with
Battleground
a nd
Th e San ds of l wo J ima
in 1949. I remember how
mu ch I lo ved th ose mo vi es as a child , wh a t fin e distincti o ns I made
between anti-J ap and anti-Nazi films. how disappo illl t'cI I was wh en
