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Transcription
This podcast analyzes the effects of the Vietnam War and the 9/11 attacks on two movies: Taxi Driver and War of the Worlds. Taxi Driver is about a Vietnam War veteran struggling with PTSD, while War of the Worlds portrays a family's experience during an alien invasion, reflecting the fear and vulnerability felt after 9/11. The movies explore the aftermath of these events and their impact on society. The Vietnam War led to political and social consequences, while 9/11 resulted in changes in foreign and domestic policies. Both films capture the atmosphere of their respective time periods and reflect the struggles of individuals and the nation as a whole. Hi, this podcast aims to analyse the effects of two crucial American history moments and the effect the events had on two movies within cinematic history. The movies we will be analysing today are Taxi Driver directed by Martin Scorsese and War of the Worlds directed by Steven Spielberg. Taxi Driver is a post-war Vietnam movie whilst War of the Worlds deals with an alien invasion as an allegory for the September 11 attacks in America. I will be exploring and discussing how the films discuss and portray these events with a key focus on the aftermath of the events during the era in which these movies themselves were made. As previously stated, Taxi Driver was made in 1976 and stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, an ex-marine and Vietnam war veteran. He is living in New York City. Bickle is a sufferer of extreme PTSD and insomnia. Unable to readjust to a life in New York, he spends his time working as a taxi driver at night. Due to his arrogance and willingness to travel to any district, Bickle sets out on a mission to save Iris, played by Jodie Foster, a 12-year-old prostitute who he believes relies on him to be a saviour and a way out of the industry. Bickle is a man with a clear hypocrisy, having a proclivity to pornographic movies and adult cinemas. The film is often shown to be a dark place with very little light. As a result, Bickle begins a fixation with Betsy, played by Sybil Shepherd, a campaign worker for the president-elect. All of these events eventually accumulate into a mass shootout, with Bickle appearing as the hero and protagonist of his own story. However, this ending has been analysed by many scholars and is believed to represent different things to different people. War of the Worlds, on the other hand, was directed in 2005 and starred Tom Cruise as Ray Ferrier, an absent father forced to look after his two children for the duration of a weekend. His children are played by Justin Chatwin and Dakota Fanning, and the connection between these characters is extremely strained. It is hinted that Ray would rather be anywhere else within the opening of the film than having to look after his own children, namely his son Robbie who his relationship with is extremely strained. During this time, however, the family is forced to come together during an attack by unidentified objects. These objects bury themselves into the ground before sprouting large mechanical-like legs. Seeking safety, Ray forces his family to abandon the city that he resides within, only to lose his son in the process who claims to want to see, and who wants to fight, despite having no military training whatsoever. The story eventually cumulates in a showdown between Ferrier and Harlan, played by Tim Robbins. A man who is determined to fight back, yet is suffering from delusions and a mental break of reality. This confrontation eventually ends with Ray killing Harlan and surviving capture from an extraterrestrial ship along with his daughter, before all the aliens begin to die and Ray is once again united with his family as the films also close. I'd now like to address the history of the Vietnam War, for context relating to Taxi Driver. During the Second World War, the League for the Independence of Vietnam, otherwise referred to as the Viet Minh, was established by political and communist leader Ho Chi Minh. Japan was eventually withdrawn from occupied Vietnam during its World War II defeat. As a result, Ho Chi Minh's forces was rised to power, occupying and claiming the nation as the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. With Ho enacting as president, the war would eventually intensify and Emperor Bảo Bạc by France established the state of Vietnam in Saigon during July of 1949. Due to the conflicts, a conflict of verdict occurred between the representation between communist viewpoints and more westernised economic viewpoints. Following the Geneva Conference of 1954, Vietnam was split in what has been called the 17th parallel with communist Vietnam in the north and westernised in the south. Nhung Dinh Diem would eventually become leader of anti-communist Vietnam. This would occur in 1954 and the following year due to worldwide controversy, the US provided assistance of their allies and in 1955 President Eisenhower pledged Diem and his forces assistance in occupying Vietnam. In 1961 however, President John F. Kennedy, a believer of the domino effect, a theory that communism begets communism and established aid to Vietnam in the hopes of assisting in technical and economical support. During their assistance, the United States of America were torn between two simultaneous conflicts, the Vietnam War and the ongoing Cold War with Russia. The Vietnam War was extremely detrimental to American society with nations being divided on fighting and supporting their troops. This lasted until 1973 with the removal of US troops from sovereign soil when President Richard Nixon signed the Parisian Peace Accords. The removal of American troops from Vietnamese soil eventually led to the communist regime rising to power across the nation. America fought in the Vietnam War for 18 years and the war in Vietnam officially ended in 1975. During the September 11th attacks on American soil, terrorist group Al-Qaeda hijacked four airlines, flights from the airport to the LIA of West Nellis Logan International Airport, Dulles International and Newark Airport. The attacks were in response to the United States response and backings in major conflicts. These included but were not limited to the Persian Gulf War and the US's support of Israel. The flights were targeted by multiple Arab nations who were believed to have been financed by Al-Qaeda and its Saudi leader and fugitive Osama Bin Laden. All four airlines were destined for the west of the nation, near California, and were each carrying approximately 20,000 gallons of fuel which ignited during impact. During the attacks in New York and the World Trade Centers, the towers that were pre-determined to be able to withstand winds of up to 200 miles per hour and extreme fires collapsed due to the heat and radiation from the gallons of jet fuel on the 80th floors. It is believed that only six people survived uninjured, whilst more than 10,000 were treated for injuries. During this time, another plane hit the Pentagon building in D.C. This hit would have killed 64 people on board and the 125 civilians and military personnel on the ground below. The final flight to hit was the flight 93 heading to California. Whilst its destination in response to the terror attacks are unknown, it is widely believed that passengers fought back, believing they would die regardless. As a result, the plane plummeted into a field. There were no survivors, however, as a result, the target building was saved. Whilst we will never know for sure, reports claim that it was likely going to hit either the White House, the U.S. Capitol building, or the Presidential Retreat Zone. Due to American involvement in the Vietnam War, social and political consequences plagued the United States for many years. For starters, the War Powers Act was enacted, causing Congress of States to attack the Presidency under the term of Imperial Rule. Following the War Powers Act, Congress also decided to replace the mandatory military draft with an all-volunteering workforce that led to the age of voting across the states to becoming 18. The War Powers required the President-elect to mandate Congress approval before being able to command troops to sovereign nations. With debilitating immigration laws and the U.S. economy at an all-time low, Johnson, the acting President at the time, caused massive price increases due to his evasion of tax inflation. Following the war, the viewpoint of the U.S. in the public eye was extremely poor, with many believing that America had hid the belief that the country was at a stalemate, leading to an increased number of casualties than physically necessary. As a result, during the continuation of 1970-88, the U.S. established guidelines on the commitment of forces abroad. U.S. party factions also took a hit, with the Democratic Party taking a hit in popularity due to mass socialism, believing that the party was an anti-war faction unable to navigate the laws of foreign policy and liberal reform. These events would eventually lead America into the quote-unquote baby boom society, in which the nation became far more cynical, the population increased, and individuals became far less trusting of the government. Analyzing the aftermath of 9-11 in relation to war of the worlds, I would like to explore how, following the events of 9-11, the U.S.A. claimed to have never felt more vulnerable, that is, since the Cold War and the Vietnam era. Foreign policy and native policies were drastically changed as a result within Western countries such as the United Kingdom. There were policy changes in countries to fit the U.S.A. Domestically within the U.S.A., parties such as Republicans and Democrats joined together in solidarity, leading to the foil of 120,000 anti-terror attacks to date. This is contrasted by comparison to the arrest made prior to 9-11, which are only in the hundreds. In 2002, the United States created the DHS, better regarded as the Department of Homeland Security, in response to the September 11 attacks. Their job roles were to prevent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil and their allies, whilst also responding and assisting in natural disasters. Suspicion did end up grasping the nation post-9-11, with many acts that were deemed harmless prior were now looked upon more harshly, with increased scrutiny to minorities and nations of colour being attacked more frequently. Threats, murder, arson and so much more have plagued individuals of marginalised communities for decades, especially since the attacks, with national politics, media coverage and policies focused on anti-Muslim pieces, especially within the early years following the disaster. Anti-Islamic misinformation was devoted to distorting the public image of Islam and other native religious groups and originated within the U.S. It started with pseudo-scholars and trained activists who believed in spreading the word of anti-Islamic propaganda. These groups have gone by many names, most notably counter-jihad or the counter-jihadi movement. They were further enhanced during the government's invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and not for the better. I have decided to give you the history of these films, due to the end of both wars and the release of both movies being so closely connected. As a result, there may be a bit of a slight crossover. However, when we talk about Taxi Driver and it being a post-Vietnam film, I believe it captures the style of New York and America perfectly. The movie purports to represent America following Bacol's return to the U.S. and its inability to understand how the city has adapted to the crisis. Rife with prostitution, drugs, and the infringement of society, Bacol has turned to pornography as a vice. He uses this vice to vent his frustrations that he relied upon during the war as his only major form of female visual stimulation and connection. Suffering from PTSD and an abstract view of reality, Travis Bacol takes his infatuation out on Betsy, and upon securing a date with her, takes her to a pornographic theater. It also refers to Bacol as setting out to free Iris from prostitution in order to not only save her, but to restore order and law to a nation that is openly defying them post-war. He believes himself as a vigilante of sorts, a soldier, determined to use force to restore order if necessary. With only a three-year gap between America's involvement ceasing in the war and the release of the film, the state in which the film portrays the events and the period in which the movie was made is almost identical. It is not just a story of one man's struggle to reach us to a nation, but it is actually reversed and is the story of a nation struggling to adjust to living life as a unit alongside their fellow man. With a four-year age gap between 9-11 and the release of World of Worlds, the movie can be depicted as a warning against terrorism and the aftermath of the attacks. In 2005, the country of America and the world were extremely divided on the treatment of minority communities. As previously discussed, the movie documents this perfectly in the conversation and assault scenes between Ray and Harlan, where Ray can be perceived as someone who recognizes the dangers of an enemy that you cannot see or fight, but won't attack unless they do so first. Harlan is a man who's become expecting of these events taking place and wants to fight back against any enemy of the same species, regardless of what or who they are, yet he wants to attack first to prevent them from attacking. Iconography is ripe across World of Worlds between a downed plane and the scene featuring Ray's sword Robby, who claims he just wants to see a mindset the nation had on 9-11 and still maintains to present day. I really hope you've enjoyed this podcast and that it has been informative. Thank you for listening.
