Hearts And Minds

After watching Hearts and Minds the person’s voice that struck me the most was Daniel Ellsberg. Mr. Ellsberg was known for leaking these top secret Pentagon files. His voice of opinion changed throughout the movie varying between both sides which was very interesting. He was all support for the war and what it stood for as representing America's image. After making last minute revises to Robert Kennedy's speech everything changed because he was assassinated after the speech. War had taken a toll on Mr. Ellsberg where his emotions overwhelmed him and he then leaked more information that the government was withholding from the citizens of the United States.
With all the choices of sources used in the film it was a clear representation of cause and effect. With the interviews he targeted all fronts of the war including the views of people at home. We as Americans were so lost we had no clue what we were fighting for or even who we were fighting. The counter to that was what the soldiers viewed up front and how brain washed the government had made them. There sole purpose was to fulfill everything like a mission and not to ask questions. Peter Davis then randomly includes these images of football games and how the coach's instill this image of victory is all that matters. They tell the players it’s not even about the game it’s about proving your better more superior and that is exactly that point he was trying to instill upon the viewers that this war was strictly for image.
Based on ideologies America used its ideology of democracy and freedom to enter Vietnam. We see this ideology throughout American history when we interfere with countries that have just gained independence. In today's world we are trying to make Democracy happen nationwide in Iraq and not allow them to choose what to do with their own country.
The images were a key factor I believe in ending the Vietnam War. It helped Americans see the wrongs of their actions and speak out against the government. Now in more modern times we see less and less images so that the government truly has the only say in what is best for our nation to do instead of the people. Seeing is believing and if the government doesn’t let us see then we believe what is being fed to us through the television set.