Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome? Collective Memory of the Vietnam War in Fictional American Cinema Following the 1991 Gulf War

Ferguson, Laura E. (2011) Kicking the Vietnam syndrome? Collective memory of the Vietnam War in fictional American cinema following the 1991 Gulf War. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/2672/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] Kicking the Vietnam Syndrome? : Collective Memory of the Vietnam War in Fictional American Cinema Following the 1991 Gulf War Laura Elizabeth Ferguson BA(Hons) Media BA(Hons)(Open) Humanities with Literature and Philosophy PgCert Film Journalism Submitted in Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of PhD Crichton Campus College of Arts University of Glasgow May 2011 © Laura Elizabeth Ferguson 2011 2 Abstract This thesis analyses the concept of the “Vietnam Syndrome” and its continuing manifestation in fictional American films produced after the 1991 Gulf War, with reference to depictions of the Vietnam, Gulf and Iraq Wars. Based on contemporary press reports as source material and critical analysis, it identifies the “Vietnam Syndrome” as a flexible and altering national psychological issue characterised initially as a simple aversion to military engagement, but which grew to include collective feelings of shame, guilt and a desire to rewrite history. The thesis argues that the “Syndrome” was not quashed by the victory of the Gulf War in 1991, as had been speculated at the time. Rather, the thesis argues that it was only temporarily displaced and continues to be an ingrained feature of the collective American psyche in current times. The argument is based on theories of collective memory, according to which social attitudes are expressed in cultural products such as films. The relationships between memory and history, and between memory and national identity are explored as two highly relevant branches of collective memory research. The first of these combines the theories of Bodnar (1992), Sturken (1997), Winter and Sivan (1999) and Wertsch (2002), among others, to define memory’s relationship with history and position in the present. The discussion of the relationship between memory and national identity describes the process by which memory is adopted into the national collective, based on the research of Schudson (1992) and Hall (1999). Consideration is given to the alternative theories of Comolli and Narboni (1992 [1969]), Hobsbawm and Ranger (1983) and Miller (2005) that propose a unified representation from a dominant ideology and of The Popular Memory Group (1982) who argue a counter-hegemonic popular memory. The thesis argues that both are insufficient to account for public memory, establishing a multi-sourced collective memory as the basis for its arguments, as described by Hynes (1999) and Wertsch (2002). Successive chapters provide a close analysis of films in relation to the “Vietnam Syndrome”. Each of the films shows the different approaches to the conflicts and ways the “Vietnam Syndrome” manifests itself. Chapter 3 provides a summary of Vietnam War films released prior to the main period focused upon in this thesis, in order to contextualise the post-Gulf War texts. Chapter 4 analyses Heaven and Earth (1993, Dir. Oliver Stone) as a revolutionary depiction of the Vietnam War from a Vietnamese depiction. Chapter 5 discusses The War (1994, Dir. Jon Avnet) as a late revisionist text. The focus of Chapter 6 3 is Apocalypse Now Redux (2001, Dir. Francis Ford Coppola), a revision of a vision, in which the additional scenes are analysed for their contribution to this later, more reflective version of the 1970s text Apocalypse Now. The last Vietnam film analysed, We Were Soldiers (2002, Dir. Randall Wallace), is the subject of Chapter 7 and is discussed with reference to post-September 11 American society and the dormant period of the “Vietnam Syndrome.” Chapter 8 brings the previous Vietnam War film analysis chapters together to form intermediate conclusions prior to the progression to Gulf War films. Chapter 9 provides a break in the film analysis chapters to consider the press coverage of the Gulf War, compared to that of Vietnam, paving the way for the following discussion of Gulf War films. Press coverage of the Gulf War influences the visual depiction of the Gulf War in both Three Kings (1999, Dir. David O’Russell) in Chapter 10 and Jarhead (2005, Dir. Sam Mendes) in Chapter 11. The reading of Three Kings also analyses the narrative as a metaphor for American concerns over the American-led coalition’s conduct during the conflict, while Chapter 11 argues the use of Vietnam War films as media templates (Kitzinger, 2000) in Jarhead. Finally, Chapter 13 brings the film analysis to a close by discussing the early representations of the Iraq War that have emerged in recent years, including: American Soldiers: A Day in Iraq (2005, Dir. Sidney J. Furie), Home of The Brave (2006, Dir. Irwin Winkler), Stop-Loss (2008, Dir. Kimberley Peirce), Lions For Lambs (2007, Dir. Robert Redford) Redacted (2008, Dir. Brian de Palma) and The Hurt Locker (2008, Dir. Kathryn Bigelow). The main, but not exclusive, features typifying the “Vietnam Syndrome” expressed through the films include: a reluctance to engage in or support foreign military intervention; use of “good war” and “bad war” discourse; signs of a collective national trauma of defeat; expressions of guilt for the consequences of American actions and failings of policy; attempts to restore the national self-image. This thesis concludes that the “Vietnam Syndrome” is still relevant to American society and that it is expressed through films in a variety of ways. It argues that the Vietnam War and the “Vietnam Syndrome” have become frames of reference for the discussion and representation of conflict and that the American collective psyche suffers a mixture of syndromes, some mutually enforcing and some contradictory, that are triggered by a variety of circumstances. The “Vietnam Syndrome” is identified as the most prolific of these and through its construction and circulation in media products, including cinema, this thesis argues it has become an umbrella term for the remnants of angst over Vietnam and new concerns over other conflicts. 4 Table of Contents Acknowledgements 6 Declaration 7 Introduction 8 Chapter 1: Review of Literature and Methodology 10 The Use of Collective Memory in This Research 10 Collective Memory as a Concept 11 Memory and History 13 Collective Memory and a National Identity 16 Dominant Ideology and a Unified Representation 18 Popular Memory Theory 20 Purpose of Remembering with a Multi-source Theory 22 Sources of Memory with a Multi-source Theory 23 Changing Memory 26 Cinema and Collective Memory 29 Outline of the Structure of Chapters 32 Rationale for the Selection of Case Study Texts 33 Chapter 2: The “Vietnam Syndrome” 36 The Bad War: The Origins of Negative Public Opinion Towards the Vietnam War 36 The Development of the “Vietnam Syndrome” 42 Conclusion: Defining the “Vietnam Syndrome” 61 Film Analysis Section I: Trying to Find a Way Out of the Jungle 65 Chapter 3: Cinematic Representations of Vietnam Prior to the Gulf War 66 During and Shortly After the War 66 Late 1970s Vietnam War Films 68 Re-fighting and Re-writing the War 73 The Realist Vietnam War Film 76 Chapter 4: Heaven and Earth (1993) 81 Chapter 5: The War (1994) 96 Chapter 6: Apocalypse Now Redux (2001) 111 Chapter 7: We Were Soldiers (2002) 130 Chapter 8: Intermediate Conclusion of Vietnam on Film After the Gulf War 141 5 Film Analysis Section II: Battling the “Vietnam Syndrome” in the Gulf 145 Chapter 9: The Impact of the Television Representation of the Gulf War 146 Chapter 10: Three Kings (1999) 159 Chapter 11: Jarhead (2005) 173 Chapter 12: Intermediate Conclusion of the Gulf War on Film 185 Chapter 13: The “Vietnam Syndrome” in the Early Iraq War Films 189 Thesis Conclusion 211 Filmography 224 Bibliography 229 6 Acknowledgements I would firstly like to thank my supervisors, Dr Sean Johnston and Dr Benjamin Franks, for all their help and guidance. Furthermore I am grateful to all the staff and students at the University of Glasgow, in particular those at Crichton Campus who made me very welcome, and also to those at University Campus Ayr who guided me through my undergraduate years and instilled in me the enthusiasm to pursue postgraduate study. I would like to thank my family and friends as well, in particular my parents, Jim and Anna, for their continued support throughout the years. Special thanks, finally, to those who employed me at ASDA Girvan, without whom I could never have managed to pay for my studies, and to my managers and colleagues there for their support. 7 Declaration I declare that this thesis embodies the results of my own special work, that it has been composed by myself and that it does not include work forming part of a thesis presented successfully for a degree in this or another university. Laura Elizabeth Ferguson 31 May 2011 8 Introduction This research focuses on the cultural legacy of the Vietnam War of the 1960s and 1970s on the collective American psyche as conveyed through fictional war films. Beaten by a third world country and bombarded with horrific images of conflict, the nation arguably spent decades coming to terms with the trauma it underwent.

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