“Masters of War” and “The Deer Hunter” revisited

Last night I watched “The Deer Hunter,” a powerful film from 1978 that is almost a documentary in how it treats working-class American male friendships and the ways they are altered by serving overseas during a horrible war (Vietnam in this case).

Earlier in the week I listened to “Masters of War,” a Bob Dylan protest folk song from forty years ago.

Both experiences continue to affect me strongly. In spite of any personal opinions on Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld (my local Congressman during the years when “Masters of War” was new, and during the decade leading up to the events in “The Deer Hunter”), now is not a good time for him to depart from his position in charge of our Iraq war effort.

If you haven’t done so recently, download “Masters of War” from Apple’s iTunes Music Store, or borrow it from a friend or local library. Then devote an evening to watching “The Deer Hunter” and be strongly sobered by the movie.

Then write your member of Congress and Senator and local newspaper, and discuss with your friends and co-workers your responses to these two almost-forgotten products of the past, and how they echo in our current international engagements. We are a great nation, and it hurts to see us losing direction and stature.

To be continued in a future entry.

[Nemo]