Analysis Of Oliver Stone's Platoon

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Register to read the introduction… Finally, Platoon serves as a nightmarish vehicle into the brutal experience of the Vietnam Hell. Historical Context and Platoon As American involvement in Vietnam dragged on through the late 1960’s and the body count spiraled upward, morale sagged in many sectors of the U.S. military. Many units suffered from internal tensions, the crippling and terrifying environment, drug use, unwillingness to fight, and the sense that the war was for nothing. Also, there was no doubt that battlefield atrocities were being committed by Americans, especially after the Mai Lai massacre. Finally, even more chilling and demoralizing was the practice of fragging. Fragging is military slang for the killing or wounding of a soldier or officer deliberately. Debate about their seriousness and frequency of incidents continues to rage, but there is no question that it became a concern in the latter years of American involvement in Vietnam . Platoon examines these sobering experiences, in an artful yet disturbing fashion . Platoon captures the internal deterioration of one particular unit witnessed through Chris Taylor (Charlie Sheen) a young naive soldier, …show more content…
Assassinations of both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy, violent clashes at the Democratic Party Convention in Chicago, the Manson Murders, and of course mounting casualties in Vietnam. Consequently, news of the massacre reinforced the belief held by some that Americans were trapped in an irrationally rising tide of violence which shed doubt on the goodness of American character. As the war was increasingly governed by bureaucrats back home, what transposed on the battlefield could be a complete different story. While many battalions fought efficiently, others were afflicted with infighting. As a result the violence was not just limited to the VC army and Vietnamese civilians. Warring factions between officers and soldiers was not uncommon. Battles were also being fought between the “enemy within” as many soldiers would contend. Platoon does a remarkable job at showcasing the “enemy within”. These themes are exemplified throughout the film, with inept sergeants who have little control over their men, racial tensions, different philosophies on winning the war, low morale, Chris Taylor’s disillusionment with the soldiers and country itself, Barnes quest for power, Elias’s crusade to take care of his men and see them through the war, and finally the most pervasive being fragging. The killing or wounding of one of your

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