Jim Shepard's Article

If I were Jim Shepard's professor, I'd give him an A+ for the semester. This article provides a truly entertaining perspective on how war movies appeal to different audiences (like Republicans vs. Democrats). I also liked his explanation as to why a group of soldiers were sent out to find one soldier, Private Ryan. My favorite part of the whole article was when he said "imagine how uneasy we would have been if Private Ryan had turned out to be Steve Buscemi." I don't think I can even really imagine how weird the movie would have turned out if he were in fact Private Ryan.

It doesnt suprise me When Shepard discusses Steven Speilberg not making Vietnam movies. I think a large part of this has to do with Speilberg's personal beliefs about the war. A lot of Americans were against this war, and there is probably a very good chance that he was one of those Americans. He was in his twenties during Vietnam. He could have even been one of the anti-war protesting types during that time of his life. I also think that he wouldn't want to make movies about a war that wasn't ever won. World War II had a clear winner: the allies. Vietnam also had a clear winner: not the allies. I don't think I would want to make a movie about this war either.