Mythical vs. Authentic

In the reading, “Where trouble comes” by Davidson and Lytle, they discuss the Vietnam War and how exactly film makers played off of the war. They discussed how many movies were geared towards a mythical view of the war, “because myth deals with expectations rather than reality” {417 Davidson, Lytle}. On the other hand some screenwriters took the controversial road and chose to create more of an authentic film. For Cimino, authenticity seems to revolve around dramatic feelings and constructing an emotionally arresting moment rather then a recreation of the wars historical context.” {416 Davidson Lytle}. The problem with these films is that they don’t give the audience a real knowledge of the war, rather “the message was tailored perfectly for those filmgoers who as Coppola said, didn’t want to “feel guilty” and who could now leave the theater singing God bless America, believing that the myths at the center of Michaels world remained intact” {Davidson 419}.
In the stories which O’ Brien writes about he discusses some truthful killings within his peaceful domain. As he states in his article, “Spin,” “The war wasn’t all terror and violence. Sometimes things can almost get sweet” {35}. This is more of a mythical approach. In this passage O’Brien explains that at many times during the war it was quite peaceful and the fellow soldiers would play games with one another. “How’s the war today somebody would say, and Ted Lavender would give a soft spacey smile and say, “mellow man, we got ourselves a nice mellow war today” {36 O’Brien}. This according to Lytle and Davidson would be a mythical view, one that many audiences may be fooled by, however not very true. On the other hand, in the article, “The man I killed” by O’Brien, there is much detail, feeling and compassion. It discusses an American man who killed an innocent man during the Vietnam War. The man could’ve been a million things but the Americans took his life away. Davidson and Lytle would call this more of an authentic story. Historians may be able to relate to it a little more, because it has a little more truth to and reality to it. The Americans killed many innocent civilians and as much as one may like to admit that they didn’t, this story tells it like it is. “Twenty years ago I watched a man die on a trail near the village My Khe. I did not kill him but I was present you see and my presence was guilt enough. I remember his face which was not a pretty face because his jaw was in his throat I remember feeling the burden of responsibility and grief. I blamed myself, and rightly so because I was present” {203}.