Title/Year: Good
Morning, Vietnam (1987)
Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Barry Levinson, USA, 1942
Budget: $13,000,000
(estimated)
Gross: $123,922,370
(USA)
Synopsis: An
unorthodox and controversial DJ begins to shake things up when he is assigned
to the US Armed Services Radio station in Vietnam.
Narrative and Visual Keywords: Vietnam, war-comedy, loosely based biography, Armed
Forces Radio Service, radio DJ, humor
Characterization/ Dialogue: In 1965, military D.J. Adrian Cronauer was sent to Vietnam to build
morale. His strategy: keep them laughing. His problem: staying out of trouble.
Camera/lighting/editing technique: During the war montage in the movie, Louis
Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World is broadcasted from the radio
station. Playing this song during war is contradictory, nevertheless it shows
that Robin Williams’s character is unorthodox, and hid goal is to please and
comfort the solders in Vietnam, showing them there is “another” world.
Political/ Social Commentary: Robin Williams's portrayal of Adrian Cronauer has led to controversy as
to the beliefs of the real Cronauer. He said that the film is about 45 percent
accurate and misrepresented him to make him seem anti-war, when he was, in his
own words, "anti-stupidity". In fact, today Cronauer - who is now a
lawyer - remains an active Republican and was a vice-chairman of the 2004
Bush-Cheney re-election campaign. Furthermore, Cronauer has also said that if
he'd done half the things Williams did in the film, he would've been
court-martialed and sent to Fort Leavenworth.
Historical Relevance/ Recognition: Robin Williams was awarded a Golden Globe Award for
"Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical",
and an American Comedy Award for "Funniest Actor in a Motion Picture
(Leading Role)". He also got his first Academy Award nomination for "Best Actor".
Notable Collaboration: Director
Barry Levinson has directed Robin Williams in two other feature films: Toys
(1992) and Man of the Year (2006).
Random fact, Etc. In
1979, Adrian Cronauer pitched a sitcom based on his experiences as an AFRS DJ.
TV networks were not interested, however, because they did not see war as
comedy material, despite the fact that one of the most popular shows at the time
was M*A*S*H. Cronauer then changed his sitcom into a script for a movie of the
week, which eventually got the attention of Robin Williams. Very little of
Cronauer's original script remained after writer Mitch Markowitz was brought
in. The film was shot in Bangkok, Thailand. Robin Williams ad-libbed all of
Adrian Cronauer's broadcasts.
Sources: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093105/
http://www.tcm.com/this-month/article/21801%7C0/Good-Morning-Vietnam.html
Response Questions:
1. Is the soldier/veteran depicted as being in control of
his destiny? Give examples.
Through out the film Adrian Cronauer is closely monitored on
what he is allowed to say on radio and what he is not allowed to say. He tries
to fight and defend his creativity by delivering current events and
entertaining the troops with comedy, rock-an-roll and satire and achieves great
recognition from soldiers After going overboard on a comedy bit, making fun of
Richard Nixon, Cronauer is suspended. While on suspension the troops fighting
in Vietnam request to get him back on the radio. A few weeks after he gets back
on the job, his sergeant dismisses him from active duty for befriending a
Vietnamese kid who ended up being a VC operative responsible for the bombing a
local bar which a lot of the US soldiers hung out at.
2. What political sub-text, or overt theme is the film
exploring?
Most Vietnam movies show realism, form the point of view of
the soldiers fighting the war. Even though we see combat in the film, none of
the main characters are fighting in this combat. Adrian Cronauer is a DJ. Upon
his assigned arrival to Vietnam,
he takes it as a new job with no real purpose. After meeting many of the
soldiers who became huge fans of his morning show he learns that his efforts at
the radio station actually mean something to this war. Cronauer starts getting
into trouble with his sergeant over different material that Cronauer wants to
broadcast. The Army has censured so much news and music styles form the
soldiers that fight for their lives at this war. When Cronauer fights to
broadcast the news, he gets shutdown from live radio and gets suspended. He
eventually is dismissed from active duty.
3. How are masculinity and patriarchy displayed through the
main character(s) -- broken and dissociated or reinstated and productive.
Please give examples
Adrian Cronauer’s Lieutenant and Sergeant are both against the
DJ’s senses of humor. They are very strict as to what news and jokes Cronauer
is allowed to broadcast. However Gen. Taylor loves the material and finds it
amusing and entertaining. We see many solider out on the fields laughing to
Cronauer’s jokes. We see the Gen. Taylor laughing to Cronauer’s jokes. But Lt. Steven Hauk and Sgt.
Major Dickerson don’t think Cronauer is funny at all. When Cronauer gets
suspended, Lt. Steven Hauk
replaces him. No one laughs at Lt. Hauk’s jokes and while Cronauer plays Rock
and Roll for the troops; Lt. Hauk’s plays polka music. Cronauer’s radio crew
start appealing to Gen. Taylor asking him to bring the funny DJ back to the
station, which he ends up doing.
I've actually met the real Adrian Cronauer back in the late 90's when I visited Washington D.C. for an 8th grade field trip (his niece or cousin was one of my classmates). We had all gathered at a restaurant and he did a little explanation as to how he was frantically setting up the microphone, cords, etc. just seconds before he would have to be on air, saying "Good Morning, Vietnam."
ReplyDeleteWow that's very cool
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