Filmmakers In Residence

I think it was two weeks ago that we watched material from the Filmmakers In Residence organization. I really thought that the whole system was really awesome but what really stuck with me was what Leeper talked about that day after the videos had finished. It was something along the lines of how different a situation becomes once the camera sees it.

I immediately agreed. The first thing that came to my mind was the Vietnam War. To this day, many people don't like the fact that we were involved. It was during this war that media took a turning point and showed America what our young men were doing overseas. Cameras brought our citizens closer to the frontlines than ever before. The heroism and partiotism were outshined by the suffering and despair Americans saw when they turned on their televisions-- they were not seeing war as they had before. People knew what was happening during war, but it seems like once it came down to the specifics, ignorance was bliss. L. B. Johnson, the president at the time, actually lost alot of supporters once they caught sight of warfare. When people saw footage and photographs, many began to point fingers at Johnson, claiming he was killing the young men of our nation. Its even more unfortunate that so many soldiers who fought in Vietnam are not thanked for their duty. Last Sunday in a church I visited, the Pastor was talking about an older man he knew that had fought in Vietnam. The old man told the Pastor that no one had ever thank him for fighting. How terrible is it that someone who sacrificed his life for our country was never shown appreciation? If one serves in a war, they don't deserve that. It just isn't right.

In the case of the Vietnam War, a camera can make the jaws of tons of Americans drop. The views so many have of this war have been made by cameras. Its just crazy how much of a difference it made.