The Legacy of Vietnam through Popular Film

            Movies also tried to capture the uniqueness of the Vietnam War, especially films like Platoon which tried to show the atrocities that were perceived to be an effect of the War itself, causing innocence to be shattered and evil to conquer good.  Although atrocities did occur during the Vietnam War, like the My Lai Massacre which paralleled the incident in Platoon where the soldiers murdered innocent civilians, this misrepresented the U.S. soldier in Vietnam.  The portrayal of soldiers as murderers jaded by war merely fed stereotypes instead of representing reality.  

   Films like Rambo took another view, trying to convey the mistreatment of the Vietnam veteran by the U.S. government.  However, Rambo also fails to get it right because it also feeds the stereotypical wronged Vietnam veteran bent on revenge.  However, both films do succeed in portraying both the inner conflict of the soldier himself and the public’s distrust of the American government which stemmed from the Vietnam conflict, and is a major element in the legacy that was Vietnam.