Watching Born on the Fourth of July in class I found the beginning of the movie very odd. Ron was SO excited to go to war, he looked forward to going (while doubting himself some- Tim O’Brien’s “I was a coward, I went to Vietnam” anyone?). I found this attitude to be totally bizarre. At first, I thought he was doing this to impress his family, friends and even a girl. But when he went, I truly believed he wanted to go and was being the “ultimate” man.
I wanted to further look at this attitude about being a “man” and going to war. I asked a buddy of mine, David, who recently got back from Iraq why he went into the military. And his first response was, “To become a man.” He had many other reasons but that was his first response. This attitude is bizarre to me. I can not grasp it. Here I am thinking that I am a man, but I have not been to war. Does this make me less of a man?
I asked my friend David this and he replys, “No, you are doing other things to become a man, going to school, working living on your own, I chose to go to war for this feeling.” I take a look at Ron’s experience in the movie and can’t help to think that going to war was his way of prooving his “manhood.” I think this may be one of the reasons he took his disability so hard. He may have though he was less of a man becuase of being in a wheelchair and having to rely on help from other people to accomplish daily tasks.
Going to war is seen by many to be the ultimate approval of manood, but I choose to stay, and not fight. If this makes me less of a man, so be it.
David N., Personal Interview (Phone). Army Ranger
John Smalley said
All of this stuff is subjective in my opinion. I’m sure a bunch of guys in the military are there for other reasons besides manhood. Possibly to give their careers and education a quick boost or to make sure there country is safe. The subject of becoming “a man” has changed dramatically in the past few decades. Before it was this pretty black and white line; you’re either a man or you’re a wimp kind of mentality. Nowadays its become a pretty big gray area which has really thrown off some people, sometimes you just need that either/or choice.
Either way, joining the military can obviously mean a step towards manhood but so many other things can do that as well; Becoming accomplished in life, providing for your family and close friends, treating others with the respect you’d expect them to treat you with, etc etc. There are thousands of other ways of proving your “manhood.” This word itself can be thought of as a gray area, does one really need to be a “MAN” in todays society?
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