Platoon Quote and Review

To start analyzing Chris’ quote we have to take a look at the two main people he mentioned, Elias and Barnes. Chris said in his quote that he felt like a child born of these two fathers. I think he means that each of them have left an impression on him good or bad. At sometimes, I felt that Elias and Barnes had some similarities also. This may be why Chris felt they were both teaching him and not just good Elias or just bad Barnes. Let’s start with Barnes. Barnes is probably viewed by the majority as the villain of the movie, and there are many reasons why it is that way. First he kills an innocent woman and then threatens to kill a child, and finally he kills a fellow American purposefully. What could Chris have possibly gotten out of that? Well, he rushed into battle towards the end of the movie probably taking what Barnes said about death and that everybody dies someday. Also, Chris ends up killing him while Barnes tells him to do it almost as if it is a final lesson or if it was just simply avenging Elias. Speaking of Elias, let’s go to him next. He is probably more believable as being a father from Chris’ quote. He really wanted to show everyone that who they were fighting was also human and that they were going to win. This can clearly be shown when he stops Barnes from killing an innocent child. In return, Chris stops some of his fellow Americans from messing with the village teens and children. Next, Elias talks to Chris telling him that they aren’t going to win this one because they’ve won so much and what goes around comes around.  Surely, Chris would not have run out on a rampage if he really believed they were going to lose which is why I believe that was Barnes’ impression on him. Then the other part of the quote is about the enemy being themselves which is proven multiple times. First you have Barnes killing Elias, then the whole group splits into two groups and then Barnes tries to kill Chris but Chris kills him instead. Also, I think that he means that we all have an enemy inside us and Chris was trying to battle for his soul from Elias and Barnes. That is how I analyze the quote.

                Now I am going to review the movie. I enjoyed the movie and how it showed that we are not the good guys either.  I really enjoyed the way they showed that we weren’t going to win fighting on the enemy’s home ground. How could we possibly win in a jungle we are unfamiliar with? It would be like a maze with every turn being a dead end, almost literally. The Vietnamese definitely knew the jungle as they were able to sneak up on the Americans countless times. I reminded me somewhat of when we would lose battles against the Native Americans. They didn’t seem as intelligent or good as us but they would beat us and sometimes badly. I liked the movie and acting overall and would give it probably an 8 out 10.