Week XI

Friedman, Lester; Citizen Spielberg

Summary:

Friedman starts by examining the role of WWII in American culture. He evokes it as a time of moral certitude for Americans, prior to events like the Korean and Vietnam War. It brought alive common values which highlighted similarities, rather than differences, between people. As a result, it has given rise to films which present an idealized world which stresses community and conformity, as opposed to the rugged individual hero that has usually dominated western cinema. This ethos came under criticism after tragedies like Vietnam, a factor which turned idealistic portrayals of war inside out and certainly had some effect on Spielberg's WWII films.
He goes on to examine the idea that memory is a fiction and most memories are formed by second-hand sources, such as watching films or television. This is a way of forming a "collective memory" which provides a unified cultural identity to subscribe to. These identitie are based as much on dramatic narratives as historical fact, which is problematic when it allows troublesome histories to be smoothed over.
Before launching into his analyses of Spielberg's WWII films, he notes how much Spielberg was influenced by his father's tales of WWII. However, being a young man during 1960s and 1970s also pushed him to make a de-romanticized war film. When he finally takes a look at the film itself, Friedman spends much of his time deconstructing the D-Day sequence, praising it for the graphic realism it presents and breaking it down into a separate story of its own, composed of distinct narrative points. He next looks at the issues of morality represented within in the film (e.g. Does saving one man warrant risking the lives of five?) before concluding with the criticisms leveled against the film. In response to the attack that the film is too maudlin for killing of its hero, Miller, Friedman responds that if he had allowed him to live, similar attacks would exist. In response to the fact that the film is too idealistic, making us care for characters simply because they are American like us, Friedman responds that Spielberg avoids this trap by choosing to include such scenes as American soldiers shooting unarmed German soldiers. He sees Spielberg's film ad subversive and intriguing rather than overtly sentimental and unrealistically positive.

Morris, Nigel; "Saving Private Ryan: Hollywood and War"

Summary:
The better part of the article focused on the idea of realism in war films. The scene of soldiers storming the beaches of Normandy in "Saving Private Ryan" is often lauded for its high degree of realism in depicting violence and warfare, from seasick soldiers vomiting to the different tones as bullets strike different surfaces. However, Morris brings up interesting points of how futile it is to praise the film for its realism. For one, most people, critics included, have never actually witnessed war and would have no idea how to evaluate how "real" what they're seeing onscreen is. The scene is more about specificity in the images it chooses to show - such as dead fish washing up amongst the corpses - than realism.

Thoughts:
I found the issues of "realism" that Morris brought up really, really interesting. However, the rest of the article dissapointed me, which is why I left it out of my summary.