In Born on the Fourth of July, Kovic describes how his understanding of combat was shaped by movies about World War II, such as To Hell and Back, starring Audie Murphy, and The Sands of Iwo Jima, starring John Wayne. What does he say about this?
Week 5 Day 1 Discussion Question 2
March 16, 2016 | 2 Comments
March 11, 2019 at 2:03 pm
In Born on the Fourth of July, Kovic describes how his understanding of combat was shaped by movies about World War II, such as To Hell and Back and The Sands of Iwo Jima. Similar to Katarina’s post above, these movies consolidated hegemonic notions of what Americaness meant, and also contributed to American notions of masculinity.
As Katrina mentioned, these young boys were being conditioned to view war as ‘heroic’ and ‘cool,’ fueling a large amount of toxic masculinity. I believe that this claim holds weight because war movies like To Hell and Back often do not delve into the horrors that war entail.
Kovic does a great a job of providing a contrast to his childhood by expanding on the horrors he witnessed while deployed in Vietnam. To an extent, war propaganda and war movies served as a trap: it promised heroism, yet often times, left naive, lower-class, young men with conditions such as PTSD.
March 11, 2019 at 12:16 pm
In “Born on the Fourth of July,” Ron Kovic describes his interest in military combat along side his love for sports. Growing up, he and his friends learned to love baseball by watching their favorite team, the New York Yankees, play on TV. Kovic explains his admiration for his “hero,” Mickey Mantel. He aspired to grow up and play baseball just like Mantel did on TV. “I wanted to be a hero,” (Kovic, 63) he dreamed. Similarly, Kovic watches movies like “To Hell and Back” and “The Sands of Iwo Jima” that glorify the combat. In the movies, his heroes are John Wayne and Audie Murphy, and Kovic idolizes them for the strength and bravery. Through these films, Kovic learns another route to becoming an American Hero. In the backyard he would reenact these violent war scenes, just like how he and his friends would practice baseball. The ultimate goal of making something special out of his life, as his heroes did, pushed him to enlist in the Marines so he wouldn’t have to work a traditional job like his dad. Once he actually experienced combat, however, he realized that the glorified images of bravery in the movies were not the same as real combat.