Driven to create outstanding and successful films, directors of Vietnam War films created movies that act powerfully on viewers" emotions by focusing on dramatic events and ideas, such as stereotypical Vietnam veterans and their Vietnamese enemies, survival as a form of heroism, cynicism as a form of self-preservation, rather than historical accuracy
The only major production during the Vietnam Conflict, John Wayne's 1968 The Green Berets, illustrates how directors concentrated on drama rather than history. Dismayed by the growing protest against United States" involvement in Vietnam, Wayne contested that he tried to counter the resistance by creating a major motion picture to, what he says, "Tell the story of our fighting men in Vietnam with reason, emotion, characterization, and action in a manner that will inspire a patriotic attitude on the part of fellow Americans." The film begins with reporters asking a group of green berets questions that enable the soldiers to explain why America must fight in Vietnam. After putting the situation into terms "everyone can understand," Sergeant Muldoon states the argument, "They need us. And they want us." At the end of the conference, a skeptical journalist, Beckworth, remains unconvinced and tells Colonel Kirby, "Your brainwashed sergeant didn't sell me," to which Colonel Kirby replies by asking if the journalist has ever been to Southeast Asia. After Beckworth replies, "No, I haven't," the colonel says, "Huh!" and walks away. After coming to the realization that he has not experienced the war and therefore, has not earned the right to critique the conflict, Beckworth lowers his head and understands.
By opening the movie with a moral confrontation between the soldiers and a cynical reporter, Wayne shows his focus on drama. The film lectures the audience on the notions of experience and seeing for oneself though, in reality, no one in the audience will likely ever truly see the Vietnam War.
