Hearts and Minds

From Full Metal Jacket and Platoon to Susan Sontag's Trip to Hanoi, and finally to Hearts and Minds, my emotions have been on all ends of the emotional spectrum. Throughout the first two movies, I was in a constant state of depression and slight anger; throughout Trip to Hanoi, I was slightly annoyed with Sontag's Western viewpoint, but understood the honesty about her thinking; and throughout Hearts and Minds, shocked at the blatant feeling of superiority that many of the Americans felt towards the Vietnamese, and rather disgusted at how Americans treated and viewed the Vietnamese: below-human, simple items. It is still so hard for me to comprehend how the Vietnamese manage to be so strong throughout all they have gone through.

I liked listening to the stories of the pilots the most. At first, they stated how dropping bombs from their planes was "deeply satisfying" and they never had to worry about seeing blood or dead bodies. From the safety of their planes, flying free, all they had to do was press a button, occasionally seeing a few houses, never any people. Towards the end though, one of the pilots felt very sorrowful for what he had done. While he is speaking, clips of napalmed children are shown, their skin burned and peeling off in large chunks. Though the pilot had never dropped napalm, he had dropped other bombs that were still detrimental to the lives of the Vietnamese. He cries while he reflects on how he would react if those children had been his own. The coupling of the pilot's story and the video clips is very moving.

The whole documentary was hard to sit through and listen to not because it was boring, but because of the content and visuals. During the Vietnam War, Americans kept convincing themselves that they were doing the Vietnamese a favor, but what kind of favor is this if the people we are trying to help are left homeless, left without loved ones, and left without daily necessities? One of the interviewed Vietnamese comments on how America bombed their country, and now is back to film the after affects. Many Vietnamese viewed the American aide as more of an invasion, starting a war of genocide. Another Vietnamese stated that because they were fighting for freedom, Americans viewed them as Communist. The people of Vietnam are still proud though, because they have won their freedom.

It is hard to believe that people would impress their biased view upon young children as well. Prisoner of war George Coker spoke to a class of young elementary school kids about how the Vietnamese are "backward, primitive people." Coker views the Vietnamese as worthless, and takes part in the general, superior American view towards the War. Another statement I took offense in was General Westmoreland, who said "Life is plentiful and cheap in the Orient." I think it's so terrible that humans can think that about one another simply because they may act differently or look different from what you may be accustomed to. The Western belief of that time that Vietnamese are expendable objects for amusement or pleasure is rather aggravating.

At the end of the film, the Vietnamese people's extreme anguish from the death of a loved one is shown. The young boy's crying can be heard the entire time in the background, and as the coffin is being covered with dirt, one of the woman tries going in with the dead body. The suffering of the Vietnamese from the War and the destruction that America's intervention caused are explicitly shown in Hearts and Minds. This is a sharp contrast to Sontag's portrayal of the Vietnamese in Trip to Hanoi. She portrayed them as showing very little emotion, rejoicing in the growth of the country but suppressing any feelings of depression. However strong as the Vietnamese may be, they are still human and suffer just as much as any other human being.