Historical Story
No longer were ordinary Americans dependent on the government as their sole source for wartime news. Now they could turn on their home television and watch reports from the front. As the war dragged on, Americans back home realized that the government’s narrative of good guys killing commies was overly idealistic. War was messy, and innocent people were caught in the crossfire. This discrepancy between the government’s propaganda the media’s nightly news reports caused many Americans to become disenchanted not only with the war effort, but with America itself.
Our script recreates that feeling of disenchantment and skepticism by presenting two contrasting voices: what the audience hears (the narrator) and what they see (Jimmy’s life). The narrator was patterned after US Army recruiting commercials from the 1960s, which appealed to traditional definitions of masculinity and adventure. In our script, Jimmy Baker is hoisted up as the quintessential American male: athletic, brave, and patriotic. He represents America’s opinion of itself following victories abroad in Europe and the Pacific.
In addition to government recruitment videos, music from the Vietnam era also reflected this general consensus of the need to promote and defend freedom. In Johnny Wright’s “Hello Vietnam” he sings, “America has heard the bugle call, and you know it involves us one and all... We must save freedom now at any cost, or someday our own freedom will be lost.” The audience relives the experience of the American public as they watch Jimmy valiantly answer the call to serve his country.
However, the audience soon becomes aware that all is not as it should be. When Jimmy’s squad is ambushed in the Vietnamese jungle, there is chaos. Amidst the screaming and smoke, Jimmy fears for his life as his fellow soldiers are cut down by gunfire. He ends up shooting a young Vietnamese boy, perhaps an enemy soldier or perhaps not, and the audience is exposed to—as many Americans were at the time—the suffering and injustice of war.
The discrepancy between the narrator’s words and what is on screen represents the conflict between government releases and news reports at the time. Similar to Marjane Satrapi’s “The Veil”, the audience must choose which narrative they subscribe to: institutional history or the individual experience. Jimmy Baker dies a patriot, but his experience—as well as that of those who actually served—calls into question the true source of our patriotism. Are we loyal to our country, or are we loyal to our values?
Elena Bender
Rollins Wimber
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