Justifiably so, the TV channels this weekend are being inundated with war movies and war-themed television shows. "The Green Berets." "Band of Brothers," "Flags of Our Fathers," "Midway," and so on. I guess like a lot of people whose dads were both John Wayne fans and a fan of war movies, I've seen my share and then some. I've lost count of how many viewings of "Bridge Over A River Kwai," "Fort Apache," "Patton," "The Dirty Dozen," "The Deer Hunter," "Sergeant York," "Apocalypse Now," and the like that I've seen. When I was a kid, I watched movies with a slaw-jawed, engrossed look on my face. As a kid, war movies were purely a matter of good guys vs. bad guys. They were purely comic books being acted out in real life. A hero stands tall against a menacing threat, loses some buddies along the way, but eventually overcomes the evil that once loomed large. Cut and dried. Black and white. War movies were what they were and nothing more or less to me.
It wasn't until sitting through "Platoon" in college with a group of my friends in a small movie theater in Kearney, NE, however, that war movies took on a different meaning. We had heard and read a lot about this movie from Oliver Stone. We had heard it didn't pull any punches. That it wasn't pleasant. That it would change you. For whatever reason, maybe a lack of maturity, it wasn't until Platoon that I started to "get" war. I saw it in a different light. Started to understand there was something bigger at play here than just good guys vs. bad. "Platoon" left a mark on me, and it was a mark I needed to have and feel. "Platoon" opened up the door to a completely different world I had failed to recognize existed. It scared me. It choked me. I brought tears to my eyes. It shocked me. War movies had never done that before. War movies up to that point were entertainment. "Platoon," despite Oliver Stone's faults, educated me. It wasn't necessarily an education I went looking for, but when I found it, I learned--more than I probably was ready for.
I'm thankful for that experience though. War shouldn't be something that you spend a couple hours watching on a big screen and then get up and carry on with your day. I remember vividly watching "The Big Red One" while in high school purely and solely because Lee Marvin was in it, and I really liked Lee Marvin. I remember watching "Fort Apache" over and over, often with my dad, solely because I took pleasure in seeing Henry Fonda humbled. I remember watching "Apocalypse Now" only because I heard and read that Brando was legit bonkers and I wanted to see for myself. Thanks to Platoon, though, when I watch those same movies in present day, I can really "watch" them. I can really feeling the intent and purpose. When I watch "Full Metal Jacket" I'm no longer watching primarily to revel in R. Lee Ermey shouting some of the greatest lines ever from a drill sergeant. I'm watching to witness a man's breaking point and to be reminded that we're are fragile.
Today, I understand the importance and necessity of war movies. I understand war is a story that needs to be told, truthfully and honestly. It's a situation that we shouldn't just read about in newspapers and Web browsers. War and all the courage and bravery and corruption and breaking of souls that comes with war should be watched. It should be examined. Most of all, war movies should be agents of change. We should heed the messages they tell. We should examine them for what they contain. And we should learn from them so that directors can stop making them. So that they become relics and piece of history and not an indictment of the present.
I've great, great respect for every veteran. I've great respect for their husbands and wives and children, as well. I'll watch war movies this weekend, but I'll do it with hope. Not fascination.
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