Project Blog post 5 – Research question and plan of investigation (formal introduction)

My research question:

To extent do the opinions, feelings and actions of the portrayed U.S. soldiers in the movie "The Green Berets" reflect the true opinions, feelings and actions of U.S. soldiers in the Vietnam War?

Part A: Plan of the Investigation
Cinema has often been used to depict historical events, and in particular, the atrocities and emotions of war. This practice has been conducted with varying degrees of purpose and intention. The film, "The Green Berets" (1968) is one such polemic film. There are many controversial topics surrounding this movie such as its manipulation by the Pentagon to drum up pro-war support, and the portrayal of the media as naive and uninformed. Despite these ideas, I have chosen to research the question: To extent do the opinions, feelings and actions of the portrayed soldiers in the movie "The Green Berets" reflect the true opinions, feelings and actions of soldiers in the Vietnam War? By gaining background information about the movie and its possible intentions via secondary sources such as the Internet Movie Database, and movie reviews in general and looking at the overall feelings conjured up during the war, I will produce some background insight into the movie and place it in context of the war. The I plan on looking at the views of soldiers and their feelings and responses in the movie in relation to primary source interviews and accounts of actual soldiers in the event. My hope is to examine the overall purpose and effect of cinematic manipulation by viewing "The Green Berets" as a case study within the overall picture of this issue.

+++NOTICE:
for those of you that read this, I'd like to specifically point out the components of this plan of investigation. For FULL POINTS, please see that the research question, context and scope of the investigation, types of sources to consult, and possible outcomes are all present!

Good Luck with your first official section!