Thursday, November 22, 2007

Platoon


"We're fighting each other, when we should be fighting them."

Intense. That's the only word I can think of to describe this Academy Award winner for Best Picture 1986. The setting: Vietnam, tackling controversial issues such as the treatment of the natives. The characters: a kid who volunteered for the war not knowing what he was getting himself into; a sgt. who is tough, cruel, and detestable; a sgt. who is moral, relaxed, and loved by his men; and a wide variety of other soldiers, including Scrubs own Dr. Cox, Forest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp. The combination of characters and the way the film delved into the situation makes it a great movie.


This movie could have fit well into our class because ethics are the cause of the central conflict. The men are fighting a war, but the camp is segregated into those who follow sgt. Bob Barnes and sgt. Elias Grodin. Sgt. Barnes is ruthless and his tactics involve killing villagers who don't give him answers he wants or those whom he can use as leverage to get those answers. Sgt. Grodin steps in and physically stops sgt. Barnes from killing a little girl. He is against the immoral actions of sgt. Barnes and will not support him. Their fight comes to a climax when Barnes finds Grodin alone in the midst of battle, shoots him and leaves him for dead. Chris, the new kid in the platoon realizes what has happened and wants to bring down sgt. Barnes, whom he learns has been shot 7 times and is practically invincible. Chris gets revenge when Barnes is wounded in a bomb explosion, instead of getting help Chris shoots him, killing him. According to this movie it is better to fight with morals, no matter the circumstance you're in.



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