Hearts and Minds

The other night I watched Peter Davis's Hearts and Minds. And it was deeply disturbing. For those who don't know, the film is a documentary about the Vietnam War made before it ended. I don't have much to say about it other than that everyone should watch it. But the film does at least two important things. First, it shows what war looks like from both sides (though there is actually no footage of Viet Cong activities, just US military and its victims). Among the most disturbing shots were the full footage of the naked girl running down the street after having been napalmed with patches of skin burned off and the footage of the assassination captured in one of the most iconic photos from the war. I'll admit that I'm generally squeamish when it comes to viewing violence, even in film or television, but the genuine horror here for me is that it is unquestionably real. These are images of real suffering and a real killing. I am haunted by the fountain of blood that splashed out of the assassinated man's head.

The second aspect that is clearly politically significant is that the film addresses the US's clear adoption of the mantle of imperialism. The country denies these ambitions but perpetuating France's efforts to maintain its colony in the 1950s and 1960s in the face of freedom fighters and then taking over those efforts of oppression in the name of "liberation" and "freedom" clearly contradicts its denials. This is made worse by Eisenhower's prioritization of protecting the US's tungsten interests in the country. So it's apparent that the US was pursuing multiple goals (stopping the advance the communism and protecting access to natural resources) but that genuine freedom was not one of them. The US failed to win the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese that Eisenhower (?) stated was necessary.