Not so “Far from Vietnam”: A Study of War, Film, and the Media

Abstract

This chapter will illustrate film as a medium that, when used effectively, can analyze and criticize war in a manner that reacts against dominant discourses that are the product of mass media coverage or the overly simplistic representations of traditional war films. The prime focus will be on comparing and analyzing the Vietnam War and the ongoing conflict in Iraq from the point of view of filmic representations of war and how these relate to and engage with media representations of war. Films that will be addressed adopt approaches that compliment or go beyond those of the mainstream media (especially television) but can, however, struggle to have the same impact. The term “sign of war” will be used here as an event or action that illustrates that a conflict is taking place. Attention will be paid to events as signs of war, and the number of different wars and conflicts that are referred to in the three films: Loin du Vietnam, 11′09″01 September 11th, and Fahrenheit 9/11. The films cover the American Vietnam War, the World Trade Center Attacks of 2001, and the recent Iraq War, respectively. All three films address the way in which media’s diffusion of images of events such as the World Trade Center attacks plays a key role in elevating them to the status of events that become perceived as signs of war.