I finished watching Good Morning Vietnam for the first time tonight. It leaves me with two main thoughts:
Robin Williams is undeniably a genius. This was already something I knew, but.... once again.... just genius.
I know very little about the Vietnam War. The little I retained from high school history and the few points made in the film about it led me to the Wikipedia page. I hope to find some good books on the subject. What struck me was Williams' confrontation with his friend towards the end of the film, when his friend exclaims that the U.S. is the enemy, for being foreign and killing people whom they are so far removed from that they don't see them as human. The refugee crisis that occurred during and after the war has echoes in today's crises in my mind. One main difference now is that technology allows us to be even more removed from killing in war. Can there really be an ethical balance in fighting "for" others while also unintentionally killing or wounding innocents? Is there a tipping point on the scale between the greater good versus the value of all human lives? A forest versus trees problem I guess.
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