The thing that really spoils my enjoyment of this film is the way history is re-written.
Not ancient history, but history which I lived through. In real-life the anti-war protesters were venting their disapproval of what they earnestly felt was an immoral war. They took a lot of knocks from the powers that be for their troubles as well.
This movie depicts them as shallow, selfish, manipulative, power-driven, and even violent people (there's irony for you!) who were "Unamerican" in every sense of the word.
The odious message of this movie is that ignorance is bliss. Don't think about things and everything will work out nicely and you will be happy. Well at least you'll get rich - which in most American movies is close enough.
It's enough to make a person gag.
Oh, and the fact it beat Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption to the best picture Oscar doesn't help either.
Not ancient history, but history which I lived through. In real-life the anti-war protesters were venting their disapproval of what they earnestly felt was an immoral war. They took a lot of knocks from the powers that be for their troubles as well.
This movie depicts them as shallow, selfish, manipulative, power-driven, and even violent people (there's irony for you!) who were "Unamerican" in every sense of the word.
The odious message of this movie is that ignorance is bliss. Don't think about things and everything will work out nicely and you will be happy. Well at least you'll get rich - which in most American movies is close enough.
It's enough to make a person gag.
Oh, and the fact it beat Pulp Fiction and Shawshank Redemption to the best picture Oscar doesn't help either.