A lesson on dissent and war

Rating: 9/10 (4 June 2013)

The Vietnam War was a war that was more trouble than it was worth, unfairly escalated, selfishly executed, and with little left to show for it on the American-side except for a countless number of mentally-ill veterans and a horrendously high body-count. I've made it a priority to thank veterans for their service when I see them in uniform out in public, but I've made it a special one to recognize the Vietnam vets. Regardless of my feelings on the war, I can't shortchange the bravery and the blatant disrespect the men in battle experienced when returning to their homelands. They were the enemy down there and they were the enemy back home. For a lack of a better term they were homeless.
Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July is a film that details their struggle better than any film I have yet to see. I can't speak from experience - and for that I'm thankful - but after reading autobiographies and recounts from the war, this seems like the film that got it right in terms of having you see the emotion and the energy bursting from the seems of the celluloid.
It stars Tom Cruise as Ron Kovic, a selfless man from New York, who decides join the Marines and fight for his country in the Vietnam War. "Love it or leave it," he tells war protesters. He is the archetypal nationalist, against any and all forms of outspoken dissent about the country and its legislation or system. When he is drafted into Vietnam, he embraces the thrill and excitement of the war and the violence, until he becomes disoriented one day and accidentally shoots a new platoon member. This scars Kovic mentally, until he is badly wounded in battle, paralyzing him from the waist down; that scars him physically.
He returns home paralyzed and in the confines of a wheelchair, still disillusioned about the Vietnam War. The film than calmly follows his descent into madness, growing shaggier in look and mood day-by-day. He lumbers around aimlessly, frequenting strip clubs and brothels, becoming more aggressive with family and friends, and deeply resenting methods of protest. That is, until his brother, who has become staunchly anti-war in his absence, tells him to look at what the war did to him. Kovic has now become paralyzed, irreversibly scarred mentally and physically, and later loosens grip on his heavily patriotic stance towards America.
The saddening part is this is not just a true story (the film was based off the book Born on the Fourth of July by Ron Kovic) but likely a true story for many other veterans whose act of courage turned into a scarring, horrifying albatross on their life. Stone co-wrote the film with Kovic, leaving the impression that much, if not all, of what is in the film is true to the story of Kovic himself. This leads to just more sorrow on the viewer's part.
What I find surprising is how well Kovic's descent is portrayed onto film; with more inclusions of quiet ballads and long-shots of scenery this could pass for a seriously great independent film. However, with Stone behind the camera, the story is given a more grandiose feel, which is perfectly fine with me. Stone has been known to man the camera on political epics that many find themselves loving or despising. Perhaps this is because Stone's films clearly communicate some sort of bias, politically and emotionally. They want you to feel everything as it is meant to be felt and they want you to embrace the political ideology of the time.
This fact shouldn't be a big issue because, I believe, even the most heartened Vietnam War supporter can agree that Kovic's case is an extremely depressing one. Born on the Fourth of July details the loss of faith, hope, and trust in his government, and the final sequences featuring Kovic protesting the war are truly remarkable in their portrayal. Saying Kovic "woke up to the reality of an issue" is a bit mean and condescending. In retrospect, his idea of blindly reading the headlines disintegrated when he finally go out in the battlefield and saw the hellishness that was war.
One of the strongest things the film does is detail social change as well. Prior to the Vietnam War, it was the ultimate social-sin to criticize the country in any way, regardless of how wrong you thought we were. Even now, you can see the fire in someone's eyes if they are an enormous patriot and America is criticized politically or socially. One thing the Vietnam War did was stretch the boundaries of democracy; why were the war-protesters such bad people in the first place? Because they had a differing opinion than the norm? If anything, they were testing how far the ideas of democracy could stretch. Not all of their acts were justified, but it's safe to say that their impact and subversive qualities should not be diminished entirely just because they held an opinion contrary to your own.
Stone's Born on the Fourth of July is something of a wake-up call. Even though the war is long over, thousands still suffer and thousands haven't began to receive the recognition they deserve. The film is uncompromising in its portrayal of borderline lunacy and the fighting and arguing about differing outlooks and views is nothing short of compelling and honest. It's a biopic, in some regard, that no one wants to claim, but it belongs to one man and countless others.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Kyra Sedgwick, Raymond J. Barry, Jerry Levine, Frank Whaley, and Willem Dafoe. Directed by: Oliver Stone.