Most recent public comments by Daniel Beckley https://nowcomment.com/users/16896 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36344?scroll_to=408304 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36344?scroll_to=408304 This resonates with some points made in Nguyen's essay "True War Stories." In the essay, Nguyen covered the way Americans lived their lives normally during the Vietnam War and were not majorly concerned with the egregious bombing campaigns and violence that the US was conducting. The creators of this movie were not intent on ignorance. However, they're attempt to appeal to an American audience led to making the content more positive. The focus on successful refugees rather than the struggle the refugees face is exactly what American would want to hear. Americans do not want to be told that their society is not properly accommodating and that American military actions are having harmful impacts on real people. If people knew the sheer quantity of bombs the US dropped on Cambodia and Laos during those 9 years and saw the impacts, they may be forced to take a stance against militarism. However, the cleaned up tales do not show this dark side and, thus, appeal more to the American audience. Wed, 11 Nov 2015 16:28:19 -0500 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=402963 https://nowcomment.com/documents/36342?scroll_to=402963 This perception of war, which is certainly a prevalent one, identifies a gritty, energized image of war. Some of the descriptors in this quote aren't even necessarily negative qualities. War, to some, is a thrill, granted a dirty one. However, what we do not see in this paragraph is anything that would suggest war is subtle, invisible, or calm. So, considering that these are common attributes associated with war, the silence on U.S. soil does in fact deter people from thinking about the war. The silence could easily be considered to be intentional. For example, we had invaded Vietnam before citizens of the United States knew, suggesting, the silence is strategic. Silence perpetuates the military industrial complex. Even in newscasts of war, one sees soldiers firing, carrying out actions, but not real exchanges of fire or casualties. In this way, the real impacts of war, the external impacts are silenced. Fri, 06 Nov 2015 10:15:59 -0500