Is it possible that the film about the village Mai Lai, Vietnam was some what one sided? I realize that people can be called into action and do things that in a normal environment they would never do. However, the "human condition" was only shown as a reult of activity, and little or no background information was explained. Did I miss something in this film, or are we to look only at the brutality?

I don't see how it could be one sided when you have the soldiers who participated in it telling you the same story that the few survivors did. No background information could explain why women and children should be raped and killed when they had no means of expecting it or defending themselves.

Jenny, There is no excuse for the actions of the American soldiers at Mai Lai. The rape and brutality are beyond comprehension. My thoughts about the issue being one-side, left me wondering, was there something else behind the brutality? Could we all be capable of doing something as brutal just because we were ordered to do so? I hope that we are not so conditioned as so respond without looking at the moral values that each of us should already have in place.

I agree with Jenny, with there is NO background information to justify what happened to these men, woman, and children. HOwever, it would be interesting to hear our purpose of the war. I know I took US history in hs, but we talked about all the obvious big wars but I never recall learning anything about Vietnam. So to be honest I don't feel that I can talk much on this subject due to a lack of knowlege period.

However, I was totally disgusted by the one man who said that he did not feel that anyone did anything morally or ethically wrong. I mean we had soliders and and people who lived through it who are just alive day to day, not really living who said they did it and it was wrong. Isn't the attitude of saving face and pride what damages our society and makes history repeat itself? Iraqi...

Linda

OK I see now. I just was enraged by the video and I think that is scary that those men who obviously have feelings and morals could be brainwashed so to speak into doing those things. And the one man seemed to still believe that what he ordered his men to do was moral and needed to be done. I just can't comprehend the way some people think. The fact that he was emotionless and felt no remorse for that day blew my mind. I'm sure my opinon could possibly change if I did know more about the war and all that went on.

I do think the video was one sided. Even if the subjects in the video showed no signs of aggression, many of the people who shot American soldigers were too women and children who appeared to be normal citizens until the instant they pulled their weapons out of hiding. This does not make it right for the actions of the American soldigers in the video, it is merely an explianation of what their thought process could have been. Should they have stopped, looking back on it probably yes. Was it fair? Is anything in war fair?

I thought that they were suspose to only fire on the sivilians if they had been fired on them selves. the fact that no fires were shot and the soldiers were still given the order to take action makes me think that the massicar was preconcieved. NOt by the soldiers but maybe some one higher up I don't know why. My real problem with the film is that the soldiers were told to kill everyone in the village but a few took it farther to rape and abuse. cutting out peoples tongues I would say that I seemed like and animalistic act except I don't know of any animals that would behave that way. I was definitelly a human act maybe and conditioned one but none the less human.

I think that one of the reasons that Dr. Taylor included this video and those postcards of the lynchings was to get our gut reactions. Yes, we are all upset and basically in disbelief that humans, not just Americans, are capable of such immoral and fatal acts. But also remember the experiment video. That man, too, was disgusted at the position he was placed in, yet still followed the orders. I am near certain that every one of the men interviewed on the Mai Lai video would have been disgusted and outraged had they watched the video, only with other people as soldiers. Sorry, that's confusing. I mean that if those men were detached from the situation and witnessed the event through the media like the rest of America, had it been others, not them who performed the killings and mutilations, they would have been as pissed off and flabbergasted as we are. That is the point of studying these topics; to show just how subjective the human condition is, and so that we, as educators, realize just how much impression we may cause on humans. Or at least that's my take on it.
And to the post about not understanding the background of Vietnam...This is VERY basic: the US entered the scene because it was our duty to prevent the spread of communism. We basically fell into a sort of stalemate as we tried to destroy communism in Vietnam without involving China or the USSR, and withdrew only after realizing that the communist force was stronger than anyone imagined. Vietnam reunited and remains a communist nation.