Truth in Good Morning, Vietnam

The Vietnam War resulted in an immense number of tragedies but also a great deal of unrelenting memories and stories implanted in the minds of the soldiers who survived. One of these stories is depicted as a movie which my family and I recently watched as a tribute to Robin Williams. Good Morning, Vietnam is a 1987 film of a recount of the Vietnam War, written by by Mitch Markowitz. The movie is set in Saigon in 1965 and tells the story of Adrian Cronauer, played by Robin Williams, who takes over as the Armed Forces Radio Service DJ. As a DJ, Cronauer is incredibly popular but is strictly limited to what he can say about the Vietnam War on air, as to not expose any of the events too miserable. In his free time, Cronauer takes over as teacher of an english class, meeting a vietnamese girl and her brother, who he becomes friends with.

Although Good Morning, Vietnam is loosely based on the experiences of Adrian Cronauer, the war story would clearly be considered false by Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried, which contains How to Tell a True War Story. In this book of 1990, the author, Tim O'Brien, who was a U.S. soldier in the Vietnam War, critiques what characteristics a war story must have in order to be true. Good Morning, Vietnam lacks obscenity and evil, is uplifting with rectitude, and has a definite ending, three characteristics O'Brien states are qualities of a false war story. 

Good Morning, Vietnam does have instances of obscenity, but the movie generally masks this element making the story seem false. Throughout the entire film, there are only rare instances of obscenity and evil. One of these instances is when a member of the Viet Cong explodes a vietnamese bar, killing two soldiers. After the bombing occurs, the film shows spotty images of the injured and dead, almost avoiding these instances of trauma. In O'Brien's How to Tell a True War Story, he states, "if you don't care for obscenity, you don't care for the truth" (66). Good Morning, Vietnam clearly masks obscenity and evil. The Viet Cong who exploded the bar saves Cronauer, telling Cronauer to leave the building right before it explodes. This suggests that evil does not play a major role in the story since a Viet Cong and a member of the U.S. army clearly have an amicable relationship. It is evident that the movie lacks obscenity and evil, making the story false in the eyes of O'Brien. 

Another instance of the war story's falsity is the rectitude exhibited near the end of the movie. One of the sergeant's who is jealous of Cronauer's ability of humor sends O'Brien to interview soldiers. However, Cronauer must travel on a road that is claimed by the Viet Cong in order to get to the soldiers. As he is driving down the road, a mine explodes, flipping the car into the jungle. After the crash, Cronauer and his driver are fine and only left with minor injuries. The Viet Cong then go to where they heard the mine explosion, but cannot find any of the passengers. Cronauer's friend, a member of the Viet Cong, comes to the rescue with a car and takes them to a helicopter, where they are airlifted to safety. In O'Brien's How to Tell a True War Story,  he states, "if at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie" (65). After Cronauer is airlifted to safety, the only emotion evoked is happiness and a sense of rectitude. Clearly, the uplifting sense that Good Morning, Vietnam has would not be consider a true war story by O'Brien.

A final instance characterizing Good Morning, Vietnam as a false war storying is the movie's ending. In O'Brien's How to Tell a True War Story, he states, "you can tell a true war story by the way it never seems to end. Not then, not ever" (72). Good Morning, Vietnam has a clear and definite ending. After Cronauer learns that his friend is a member of the Viet Cong, he can no longer work as DJ, therefore must return to the U.S. Before Cronauer leaves, he plays a baseball games with his vietnamese students as he promised them. Cronauer has proper closure with Vietnam and leaves Vietnam in peace with acceptance. Clearly, the war story Good Morning, Vietnam is not a true story according to O'Brien's How to Tell a True War Story. This is proved by the stories lack of evil and obscenity, instances of rectitude, and definite ending, all characteristics that O'Brien states false war stories contain.

Good Morning, Vietnam Trailer: