It is hard to find any event that better defined the 1960’s and 1970’s of American history than the Vietnam War. Oliver Stone’s ‘Born on the 4th of July’ effectively captures the causes of social division across the U.S between the years 1964 and 1975. The movie deals with pro war motivations, such as fear of communism and duty to the U.S.A as well as anti-war sentiments stemming from events such as U.S cover-ups, and the growing irrelevance in U.S society.
“Born on the Fourth of July” presents pro war motivations through the main character of Ron Kovic, he encapsulates what many young men were thinking at the start of the war. Kovic was passionate about fighting because he believed communism was a direct threat to America. This is evident…show more content… The scene where Ron comes home drunk and argues with his parents highlight how many American’s began feeling as news of events such as the My Lai massacre appeared. American’s started to wonder if they were fighting the ‘insidious evil’ which was communism, or if the whole war was just a way to show off America’s military might. The cover-ups of the massacres further reinforced the idea that the American people have been lied to about the true intentions and aims of the Vietnam War. Furthermore, the film portrays the increasing irrelevance the war was having in 1970’s America, with issues such as civil rights becoming the main focus. The film shows this with the interaction between Ron and Willie at the hospital. Willie tells him “It ain't about burnin' the flag and Vietnam, man. While we fight for rights over there, we ain't got no rights at home. It's about Detroit and Newark, man. It's about racism, man.” Vietnam was overshadowed in many ways by the civil rights movement and this lead to widespread loss of interest in the war. It soon became to be seen as “a white man's war, a rich man's war.” The combination of the massacres, and the increasing irrelevance in U.S society, caused the support for the war to dramatically decline and a strong anti-war sentiment to