The vietnam war syndrome in forrest gump movie scritp a critical discourse analysis

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -  - TRỊNH THỊ VÂN THE VIETNAM WAR SYNDROME IN FORREST GUMP MOVIE SCRIPT: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Hội chứng chiến tranh Việt Nam kịch phim Forrest Gump: Một phân tích diễn ngơn phê phán MA THESIS – TYPE Field: English Linguistics Code: 8220201.01 Hanoi, 2019 VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES -  - TRỊNH THỊ VÂN THE VIETNAM WAR SYNDROME IN FORREST GUMP MOVIE SCRIPT: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Hội chứng chiến tranh Việt Nam kịch phim Forrest Gump: Một phân tích diễn ngôn phê phán MA THESIS – TYPE Field : English Linguistics Code : 8220201.01 Supervisor : Dr Ngô Tự Lập Hanoi, 2019 DECLARATION I declare that this thesis ―The Vietnam War Syndrome in “Forrest Gump” Movie Script: A Critical Discourse Analysis‖ embodies the result of my own special work which has been composed by myself in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies Trịnh Thị Vân th January 05 , 2019 i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would firstly like to express my thankfulness for my supervisor, Dr Ngô Tự Lập for all his help and guidance Were it not his support, I would not have the courage to complete a Master’s Thesis on this topic His valuable comments and suggestions also played an important part in the finalization of this study Furthermore, I am grateful to all the staff at ULIS Center for Learning Resources who have been always willing to help me with the books I need I would also like to give thanks to all the lecturers at Faculty of Postgraduate Studies for all their adorable knowledge which made me broaden my mind to the world of language Special thanks, finally, to my husband and my son who stand by me throughout the time I did my research, without whom I could never be motivated enough to fulfil my work ii ABSTRACT The fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975 is a turning point that put the Vietnam War into an end after 20 years of conflicts Considered the most controversial war in the 20th century, the Vietnam War deeply divides the American society Especially, it causes the Vietnam Syndrome which still is an obsession of American people until today The research is carried out on a movie script of one of the most famous Hollywood films about the Vietnam War, Forrest Gump The collected data are analyzed on the basis Fairclough’s threedimensional framework for critical discourse analysis As a result, the study reveals the different aspects of the syndrome considered as a psychological trauma expressing in many factors such as the topic, the plot, the characters, the setting, the genre, the theme songs, and the language of the whole movie Moreover, the movie script exposes a long period of problematic and tragic time in the history of the United States Hopefully, the study will be a firm ground for further CDA research on the same topic Key words: critical discourse analysis, Vietnam Syndrome, movie script, Vietnam War, American Studies iii TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii ABSTRACT iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv PART A: INTRODUCTION 1 Rationale of the study Aims of the study Scope of the study Methods of the study Background of the data Design of the thesis PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: Literature Review 1.1 The Vietnam Syndrome 1.2 Discourse and Discourse analysis (DA) 1.2.1 Definitions of Discourse 1.2.2 Discourse analysis 12 1.3 Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) 14 1.3.1 History of CDA 14 1.3.2 Definitions of CDA 15 1.3.3 Aims of CDA 17 1.3.4 Key notions of CDA 17 1.3.5 Tenets of CDA 19 1.3.6 Fairclough’s approach to CDA 20 iv 1.3.7 Differences between CDA and other approaches to DA 20 1.4 Review of previous works 21 Chapter 2: Methodology 23 2.1 Research objects 23 2.2 Research method 23 2.3 Research procedure 26 Chapter 3: Data analysis 28 3.1 Topic, plot, and characters 28 3.2 Setting and genre 31 3.3 Language 33 3.4 Theme songs 39 3.5 The symbol of Forrest’s running 41 Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions 45 4.1 How is the Vietnam War Syndrome reflected in the movie script from CDA perspective 45 4.2 What are the implications of the study for teaching the Vietnam War concerning texts 47 PART C: CONCLUSION 18 Summary of the study 48 Limitations of the study 48 Suggestions for further research 48 REFERENCES 50 v PART A: INTRODUCTION Rationale of the study To be a young Vietnamese of the post-war generation, have you ever raised a serious question about what happened to the generations of our fathers and grandfathers during the Resistance War against America, that is called the Vietnam War in the US, from the 1950s to the 1970s? Or you only just heard about a war in which Vietnam was against the American Empire’s invasion And that the Americans brought tons of bombs and Agent Orange to flow down to our country, which made us be deep inside years of depression and smokes of war The war, as all we know, has caused many disasters to our country such as starvation, poverty, disability, homelessness, and etc The grief and loss of the war will last forever in the hearts of the Vietnamese generation after generation In the United States today, ―Vietnam‖ is shorthand for their longest and most divisive foreign war, and it is often evoked as little more than a political or media cliché, a grip reference to a controversial war that ended badly, a time of domestic turmoil, a history to be avoided in the future For many Americans, the war’s meaning has been winnowed down to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, DC where they stand in silence, filled with emotion, but unsure how to move beyond their private reflections to a broader engagement with this daunting subject They, the same as many young Vietnamese in our generation, are still going to find the answers to the questions how the war began, why it bred so much dissert or why it lasted so long As a result, many American filmmakers from Hollywood have worked for years to find out the reasons why the United States got bogged down in the war, also acted out the real nature of the war under different points of view It has been 43 years since the last US combat troops left Vietnam, but the conflict continues to play an outsized role in American politics and popular culture From John Wayne’s stern-jawed performance in the 1968 propaganda film The Green Berets to Robert Downey, Jr.’s antics in the 2008 meta-comedy Tropic Thunder, the war’s complexity and social impact have made it an irresistible subject for generations of filmmakers and moviegoers Among those, Forrest Gump, one of the most famous films about the Vietnam War, is an epic American film detailing a history of an America that was locked in the revolving orbit of the Vietnam War Also, it clearly and deeply indicates life of veterans coming back from the war who suffered from a serious disease called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or the Vietnam Syndrome Although in a speech on March 1991 after the Gulf War (2 August 1990 – 17 January 1991), the US President George Bush declared ―By God, we’ve kicked the Vietnam Syndrome once and for all‖ (Congressional Quarterly Weekly Report, 1991, p.549), it actually does exist in American veterans’ mind and soul who came back from the Vietnam War, and in the whole society as well So how exactly the Vietnam Syndrome appears in the script of the Forrest Gump movie, in order to find out the answer to this question, I manage to a research called ―The Vietnam War Syndrome in “Forrest Gump” Movie Script: A Critical Discourse Analysis” Aims of the study The research is able to argue the nature of the continuing effects of the Vietnam War as reflected in American cinema and the extent to which the Vietnam Syndrome is still relevant in American culture Another aim of this study is to provide experiences in applying CDA methods into cinematic texts, especially movie scripts To fulfill these purposes, the study will answer the following research questions: (1) How is the Vietnam War Syndrome reflected in “Forrest Gump” movie script from CDA perspective? (2) What are implications of the study for teaching the Vietnam War concerning texts? Scope of the study In the framework of the study, this thesis only focuses on analyzing the Vietnam Syndrome represented in the script of the film Forrest Gump which was released in 1994 by Paramount Pictures The factors such as the topic, the plot, the characters, the setting, the genre, the theme songs, and the language of the movie are analyzed to figure out the syndrome hidden inside Methods of the study This research is conducted based on a Critical Discourse Analysis approach which will be further discussed in the next sections The qualitative method and content analysis are applied for the research After collecting data in the movie script, the analysis was exercised on the basis of Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework: Description – Interpretation - Explanation Details of the analysis procedure are presented in the Methodology chapter Background of the data Among a series of films about the Vietnam War, Forrest Gump was chosen because it is interesting - a six Academy Award winner Also, the film really know how to win, or even have a definition of winning, and they used all the military power they had (except nuclear weapons), committed massive human rights violations against the population of a poor third world country, and yet they achieved precisely nothing In another situation when Forrest went to Washington, DC to receive the Medal of Honor from the President of the United States, he was put in a line with the other veterans against the war, and asked to tell the crowds about the war in Vietnam When Forrest was about to speak, there was a policeman pulling the patch cords out of the audio board, so that people could not hear anything ―We can’t hear you We can’t hear anything.‖ The only thing that people can hear is the last sentence in Forrest’s speech: ―That’s all I have to say about that.‖ The image of a veteran continuing to speak into the microphone without any sound symbolizes the whole country cannot speak out the truth They have no chance to know about what American soldiers think and in Vietnam They really want to know the truth, but the only thing they can hear from the veterans is nothing at all All people in the country have no opportunity to raise their voice and to understand what is happening in the war The American government always finds the way to cover the truth Therefore, the American people not know the true story behind the mask The Vietnam War causes the entire American society a disbelief in noble values considered the symbol of the United States Even though about 70% of American population follows Christianity, they have to question about their religious belief after the war They doubt whether there is Jesus Christ existing in this world This indicates clearly in Lt Dan’s speech when he talks to Forrest after many year they reunite 37 Have you found Jesus yet, Gump? Jesus this and Jesus that Have I found Jesus? They even had a priest come and talk to me He said God is listening, but I have to help myself Now, if I accept Jesus into my heart, I'll get to walk beside him in the Kingdom of Heaven Did you hear what I said? Walk beside him in the Kingdom of Heaven Well, kiss my crippled ass God is listening What a crock of shit His words prove the hopelessness of Americans to the merciful God They no longer believe in what they often pray in the church that Great Jesus would give them peace and a better life The world they are living in is full of loss and depression The repetition of the word ―Jesus‖ or ―God‖ in Lt Dan’s speech exposes the bitter despair of an amputated veteran who has nothing to lose as well as nothing to live by The loss of his life also demonstrates in the conversation between him and two prostitutes when they argue with each other at New Year’s night The prostitutes repeatedly call him ―You big loser!‖, ―You retard!‖, ―You freak!‖, or ―You so pathetic!‖ All these imperative sentences as a needle stab into his heart and make him a more tragic life He is not only a loser in the war, but also a loser in his life Coming back from Vietnam and being a crippled veteran, Lt Dan has to stay in a hotel and lives off the government tit He totally no longer believes in anything in this world As Forrest said ―there’s something you can’t change.‖ He cannot change the truth that he is now a legless freak His life is destroyed by the Vietnam War Appallingly, it is the same as the United States that is deeply divided by the war The war is over and reveals an America full of people with disabled minds 38 One of the most interesting expression appears in the script is the question that people often ask Forrest at the first time they meet him: ―Are you stupid or something?‖ Forrest is a simple-minded man with a low IQ of 75, so he usually behaves very different from what people often think Therefore, the question is directly about Forrest’s intelligence Whenever he performs strangely, people ask him that question However, the interrogative sentence probably veil another meaning which seems to be related to the performance of the United States in the Vietnam War Is Forrest stupid or America itself a big idiot? 3.4 Theme songs Many anti-Vietnam war songs written in the 1960s and the 1970s are mentioned in the movie script ―Blowing in the wind‖ (1962) is one of the best songs of all time performed by the character Jenny in the film How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man? How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand? Yes, and how many times must the cannon balls fly before they're forever banned? The song was written by Bob Dylan during the early sixties which is right when the United States started sending more troops into Vietnam It poses a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war, and freedom This is an anti-war song that does not only make specific references to Vietnam but was also written during the time period and to make people view the war in a negative way Dylan uses lots of rhetorical questions that are meant to criticize our country's involvement in war, specifically the one in Vietnam 39 Due to all the rhetorical questions in this song it is easy to deduce that this song is meant to criticize America's foreign policy during the Vietnam War, even though no specific foreign policies are named “Fortunate Son” (1969) is one of the Vietnam era’s best-known protest songs Some folks are born made to wave the flag Ooh, they're red, white and blue And when the band plays "Hail to the Chief," ohh, they point the cannon at you all It ain't me It ain't me I ain't no Senator's son, no It ain't me It ain't me Written by John Fogerty and performed by Fogerty’s band, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fortunate Son takes aim at the United States’ political and military elite, the men who push for war but are seldom personally affected by it According to Fogerty, Fortunate Son was inspired by the marriage of Dwight D Eisenhower’s grandson to Richard Nixon’s daughter In simple but angry tones, Fogerty’s lyrics suggest that the children of the working classes – not ―senator’s sons‖ or ―millionaire’s sons‖ – are drafted and sent to into the teeth of war ―It ain't me It ain't me I ain't no Senator's son, no It ain't me It ain't me " This indicates that the only fortunate or lucky ones in the war are soldiers who can get themselves out of the army or out of the military by having special relations with people inside the government The song, released during the peak period of U.S involvement in Vietnam, is not explicit in its criticism of that war in particular, rather, it "speaks more to the unfairness of class than war itself," according to its author, John Fogerty "It's the old saying about rich men making war and poor men having to fight them." 40 Another song, ―For what it worth‖ (1967) is a well-known protest song written by Stephen Stills and performed by Buffalo Springfield There's something happenin' here What it is ain't exactly clear There's a man with a gun over there, telling me I got to beware Since the song was written during the Vietnam War, America was split between anti-war protesters and pro-war civilians - the group tried to use this song to make people realize the actual actions that the war was causing and base their opinion on the events There are some other songs mentioned in the film such as “Mr President (have pity on the working man)” (1974), ―Where have all the flowers gone?” (Pete Seeger, 1961) or ―All along the watchtower” (Bob Dylan, 1967) All these songs play an important cultural role during the Vietnam War Often great art is produced in the hardest of times, and some of the most iconic music of the 20th century was produced during the 1960s and early 1970s in protest of America's involvement in the Vietnam War Artists like Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger or Randy Newman speak out against the war by their greatest protest songs ever 3.5 The symbol of Forrest’s running The movie Forrest Gump shows historical events that took place from the 1950s through the 1970s out of the perspective of a mentally underdeveloped person – Forrest Gump – the main character There are no explanations given why things happen, but occasionally Forrest offers his own explanations, which seem stupid to the spectator, but are understandable, because the viewer is constantly reminded of Forrest's low IQ Within the storyline, many 41 metaphors are used They animate the watchers to think more deeply about events and question why things happen the way they happen One of them is that throughout the movie Forrest is constantly "on the run" So why is he running? And what are the makers of the film trying to say by using this metaphor? The first time he ran, was in Forrest's childhood years when he walked down a street together with Jenny and was attacked by a group of kids They threw stones at him and called him names Forrest obviously did not know how to react and just stood still as if he was paralyzed, waiting for what would happen next Jenny gives him a solution by telling him to run away Forrest starts running and escapes the kids Through this incident, he notices for the first time that running away is a good solution to escape dangerous situations The second time when he is already in college, he is again running away from men chasing him and by accident he gets on a football field He is seen by the coach of the team and gets immediately drafted as a player He does not know the rules of the game And he does not need to, because his whole job consists of catching the ball, running toward the enemy line and hitting a home run One can see that Forrest does not know what he is doing by the huge posters shown which are supposed to guide him They read, "Go Forrest", and "Stop Forrest" On the stands, people form letters saying, "Go Forrest" He becomes a successful football player And he notices again that he can be successful by simply running Before Forrest has to leave for the Vietnam War, Jenny tells him to run and not to be brave whenever he is in danger One day his platoon gets caught in a shooting and he runs away and thus gets away from getting shot He is the only not-badly injured person from his platoon and rescues many of his mates 42 There are many other times when Forrest just runs His mother had just died and he was overwhelmed by a number of stressors He runs across the United States, gets national media coverage, and by the way "invents" the bumper sticker Shit Happens and the Smiley face These are only the main examples of Forrest running in the movie Every time Forrest runs, he gets away from a dangerous or unfortunate situation and ends up turning it into earning success and glory for himself He does not realize himself what he is doing or why he is doing it, but it works out every time This metaphor symbolizes the insecurity of the common people living at that time, the "baby boom generation" People were living their lives without knowing what is happening around them and why it is happening They had no active influence on the events that surrounded them Furthermore, there is another underlying meaning of Forrest’s running For many years, the US Government got bogged down to the war in Vietnam throughout five presidents, especially from Lyndon B Johnson to Richard Nixon At the beginning of 1970s, Nixon tried to find out the way to withdraw his army from Vietnam in honor, but no way of putting the war to an end The character’s running conveys a lot of underlying meanings The dynamic verb ―run‖ is totally mentioned about 102 times in the whole movie script It is the symbol of US Army’s running away from the Vietnam War They run away after a long time of being deep inside the hell without the way to escape American soldiers in Vietnam and American people in the United States completely lose their beliefs in a victory of the country When the truth about what US soldiers in Vietnam is gradually brought to light, they no longer believe in the promises of the Government that they will soon end up the war After Tet Offensive (1968), the US Government realizes the dead- 43 end destiny and tries to find out the solution for getting out of their tragic situation in Indochina They try to run away as Forrest does in the film Running away is to escape from a really horrible tragedy in Vietnam Additionally, Forrest’s running implies another meaning – an escape from the obsession of the Vietnam War years after the war Perhaps, there is no other conflict that makes American people get into such a panic Therefore, they run, run to flee away the past as it means in Forrest’s saying, “My Momma always said you got to put the past behind you before you can move on And I think that's what my running was all about” The Vietnam War was, and still is, an important part of the lives of many Americans It is the Vietnam Syndrome that still haunts their heart and mind many years after the war 44 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 How is the Vietnam Syndrome reflected in the movie script from CDA perspective? The underlying reasons for the Vietnam Syndrome are the conflicts between the ideological myth of American noble values such as freedom, equality, human rights, etc and what badly happened in the Vietnam War For example, killing babies and women, inequality, and racism were practiced by American soldiers As Thomas Paine, one of the greatest fighters of freedom and independence in America History claimed in his famous book Common Sense (1776) that ―The cause of America is in a great measure the cause of all mankind‖ Paine meant America’s mission for freedom and equality is, for the most part, exactly what all of mankind is aiming for On the other hand, what the US Army did in the war made their people bitterly disappointed and disbelieved in the Government It led to the psychological trauma in the whole American society In other words, they asserted that the ideal wonderland has already gone That traumatic condition has been demonstrated in many fields, but in this research, I have studied the psychological trauma which is manifested in a movie script considered as a discourse After all the analysis that has been done, we can see that the Vietnam Syndrome is obsessive in the whole script, that it influences strongly the topic, the plot, the characters, the setting, the genre, the theme songs of the film, and the language used in the movie The syndrome also illustrates in the expressions and the symbol of the main character’s running, which contains the hidden messages of the movie script 45 About the topic of the movie script, the film is about the Vietnam War which was over a long time ago There have been many Hollywood films about it, but the director of the movie still chose this theme It can be understood that the Vietnam War still firmly sticks to Americans’ memory The plot of the movie is about a simple-minded but kind-hearted Alabama man who is always called an idiot during his life Forrest is considered the symbol of the United States at the time the Vietnam War was happening America got bogged down to Vietnam and found no way to get out of it They seemed to behave like a stupid giant man, and thus the war is forever a black eye in American history Four main characters of the movie Forrest, Lt Dan, Jenny, and Bubba have a very complicated and different life, but they share the same situation is that their lives are totally destroyed by the Vietnam War by this way or that way They are generations who are directly affected by the war As a result, they either die or get lost in their own ways of life The setting of the movie is mainly in the state of Georgia where social problems such as inequality, racism, or discrimination happen very often It is also a state split many times in the past Perhaps, the director has intention of choosing the setting of the film A complicated and separated state seems to symbolize the divided and tragic America during the Vietnam War Forrest Gump is a comedy-drama film It seems to be an epic, but in fact, it is a pseudo-epic which is an anti-power against the American noble values Other factors of the movie such as the language, the theme songs and the symbol of Forrest’s running all embody the darkest period of time in American history - the time of the Vietnam War The people lost directions to their future and disbelieved in the government The Army got deep in a ―Big 46 Muddy‖ and tried to run away but found no way to escape from it The artists fought against the top leaders and the war by their own words in their songs and speeches It is the Vietnam War that makes the whole American society suffer from a psychological trauma 4.2 What are the implications of the study for teaching the Vietnam War concerning texts? The underlying meanings of the all kinds of discourse only can be understood by putting them into a social and historical context Therefore, in teaching and learning English, when perceiving a text, especially a Vietnam War concerning text, the teachers need to be aware of the context surrounding the discourse in order to give learners proper explanation Also, the learners need to have enough background knowledge to deeply understand the hidden messages inside every discourse The Vietnam War is a very complicated period of time in the Vietnamese history as well as the American one Nowadays, the young generations are normally lack of information and basic understanding about that As a result, when analyzing these types of texts, the learners not only focus on the words, structures and sentences; but also need to find out the extra information related to social contexts and historical events so that they can see the underlying messages 47 PART C: CONCLUSION Summary of the study This research was conducted from the critical discourse perspective that assumes the important role of the relationship between discourse and its underlying meanings Explicitly, the study of the Vietnam Syndrome in the Forrest Gump movie script is embraced Applying the framework of Fairclough’s three-dimensional process, the research has unveiled the existence of the Vietnam Syndrome embedded in all the factors surrounding the movie such as the topic, the plot, the characters, the setting, the genre, the theme songs, as well as the language of the movie script The study is also an attempt to apply CDA approach to an artistic text in order to figure out the hidden messages inside the movie script Moreover, it is essential to master that every discourse is produced in a historical and social context with a specific situation The relationship between the context and the situation decides the significance of the discourse Thus, it is very important for teachers and learners to find out not only the textual, but also the extra-textual factors and intertextuality in order to deeply understand the real meanings of the text Surveying the extra-verbal elements and social contexts are really necessary for the teachers in guiding the learners to recognize the underlying meanings of the discourse Limitations of the study To understand more about the Vietnam War, as well as the Vietnam Syndrome, it is necessary for the author to carry out the research on more sources of materials so that the readers can be able to have a clearer view of this complex issue 48 Suggestions for further research My research is expected to be competent document in both theory and practice Theoretically, the study deeply investigates the field of CDA and critical analysis of a cinema discourse as well Up to now, many researches on critical analysis of political discourse have been conducted whereas critical analysis of the Vietnam War concerning discourse is really a new and strange approach, especially in Vietnam Practically, the research encourages people to learn about the Vietnam War and its effects on both American and Vietnamese societies Hopefully, learners who are really interested in Critical Discourse Analysis and artistic texts would see my research as a useful material From what the study has gained, I would like to make suggestions for further research regarding the other events related to the Vietnam War such as how the war affects America, how the war destroys Vietnam, or how Vietnamese veterans live after the war, etc It can be said for sure that those topics will play an integral role in contributing to the material stores for the post-war generations 49 REFERENCES Fairclough, N (1989) Language and Power London: Longman Fairclough, N (1995) Critical discourse analysis: The Critical Study of Language London: Longman Fairclough, N & Wodak, R (1997) Critical discourse analysis In: Van Dijk, T.A (Ed.) 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(2009) Methods of Critical Discourse Analysis 2nd ed London: Sage 50 14 Wodak, R (Ed.) (1989) Language, Power and Ideology: Studies in Political Discourse Amsterdam: John Benjamins 15 V N Volosinov (1926) ―Discourse in Life and Discourse in Art‖ in V N Volosinov (1987) Freudianism: A critical sketch Indiana University Press: Bloomington and Indianapolis (pp 98-100) 16 V N Volosinov (1986) Marxism and the philosophy of language Havard University Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts: London, England 51 ... against America, that is called the Vietnam War in the US, from the 1950s to the 1970s? Or you only just heard about a war in which Vietnam was against the American Empire’s invasion And that the Americans... the most famous films about the Vietnam War, is an epic American film detailing a history of an America that was locked in the revolving orbit of the Vietnam War Also, it clearly and deeply indicates... share particular meanings, they also have characteristic linguistic features associated with them What these meanings are and how they are realized in language is of central interest to the area