The Vietnam War In The American Zeitgeist: A Study Of The Vietnam War In Film

This thesis examines and compares a series of movies and a game set in the Vietnam War as well as the cultural and political context around their release. Through these examinations and comparisons, each chapter attempts to track the position of the Vietnam War in the American zeitgeist, and it will reveal how that position changed over the decades up to the current day. This thesis demonstrates how the Vietnam War remained an emotionally charged and potent subject within American culture and politics. However, the thesis also shows that since the height of Vietnam War films in the 1980s the war has faded considerably in American memory.