It would be near insanity to say Letters from Iwo Jima constitutes an everyday war movie. Clint Eastwood not only created a film that sympathizes with the Japanese, but also acknowledges the fact that both the Japanese and Americans were wrong. The Japanese assumed Americans were cowardly fools and the Americans had been taught the Japanese were mindless imperial machines. These stereotypes are quickly cast aside as viewers of this movie acquaint themselves with Saigo and his friends. However, although this movie effectively accomplishes its goals, it still contains many inaccuracies. These errors eventually culminate to the point that the movie may seem sensationalized or even overly dramatized at points. More importantly, the cultural, geographical, and propagandized inaccuracies make it difficult to believe what Letters from Iwo Jima is trying to say; the Japanese fought even more bravely than the Americans despite what public opinion was.
Some of the most glaring errors that Letters from Iwo Jima has stem from either cultural misinterpretations or fallacies. Although many Japanese committed suicide during World War II and the Battle of Iwo Jima, it would have been ludicrous for a commanding officer to behead a subordinate in feudal Japanese fashion. As Kuribayashi said, “I don’t want you to kill my soldiers needlessly” (Letters from Iwo Jima). Killing soldiers would only make it easier for the Americans to take Iwo Jima and move closer to taking the Japanese mainland. Perhaps even more ridiculous is the fact that Saigo and Hanako were wearing kimonos. According to MIT, Kimonos ceased to be commonplace before the turn of the century (“Kimono Hypertext: History”). Assuming that a common baker and his wife would hav...
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Alexander, Joseph H. “Suribachi.” Marines in WWII Commemorative Series. National Park Service, n.d. Web. 10 March 2010. .
“Battle for Iwo Jima, The.” Defense.gov. Department of Defense, n.d. Web. 9 March 2010.
Kennedy, David M., et al. The American Pageant: A History of the Republic. 12th ed. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Print.
“Kimono Hypertext: History.” JP NET Kimono Hypertext. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1999. Web. 9 March 2010.
< http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/kimono/kimono-history.html>.
Letters from Iwo Jima. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Perf. Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Ryo Kase, and Tsuyoshi Ihara. Amblin Entertainment, 2006. Film.
In January 1965, Caputo, now an officer, is sent to Okinawa, Japan with men in the Third Marine Division. While waiting for the call to join the war, the young men start getting antsy and discouraged by the long delay of battle. Two months later, on March 7, 1965, Caputo’s company, along with many others, are assigned to a war location, D...
Kennedy, David, Cohen, Lizabeth and Bailey, Thomas. “The American Pageant Volume II: Since 1865.” Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.
The Japanese commander in charge of Iwo Jima was General Kuribayashi. General Kuribayashi believed that America would attack Iwo Jima just the same as they had attacked every other target, with a massive aerial bombardment. Kuribayashi was ordered to build up Iwo Jima the same as every other Japanese base even though they had proven to be useless against the aerial bombing techniques that America used. Despite what other Japanese officers above General Kuribaya...
In the early morning of 19 February 1945, United States Marines assigned to the 3rd, 4th and 5th Marine Division led the initial assault on the Japanese controlled island of Iwo Jima, with the objective of capturing and securing the island. This was the beginning of one of the fiercest and bloodiest; and more decisively, the most strategically important battles fought during World War II. After the dust had settled, and the smoke had cleared, the causalities and losses were astounding. 6,821 U.S. Marines along with 18,844 members of the Imperial Japanese Army had paid the ultimate sacrifice. A decisive US victory on the island of Iwo Jima later played a pivotal role in the overarching defeat of the Japanese Empire and its Armed Forces (Morison, 1945).
Even though women may experience actual benefits from this system, the core result is one where the feminine is tied to psychic alienation. The article entitled ‘No More Miss America’ picks up on many of the points illustrated in Bartky’s chapter. The article calls for the public to protest the pageant due to the myriad of ways that it reinforces the male idea/ideal of the feminine as being the only worthwhile view, or the one most deserving of reward. This conception furthers the kind of female experience of inferiority discussed by Bartky. “In this reputedly democratic society, where every little boy supposedly can grow up to be President, what can every little girl hope to grow to be? Miss America. That 's where it 's at. Real power to control our own lives is restricted to men, while women get patronizing pseudo-power, an ermine clock and a bunch of flowers; men are judged by their actions, women by appearance” (Chicago Women’s Liberation Union,
McCaffrey, an author for the University of Oklahoma Press, in his historical novel, “Going For Broke: Japanese American Soldiers in the War Against Nazi Germany.” The book describes the unit’s role in the European theater from their training, through all of their subsequent battles, and their eventual return home after the war. McCaffrey often goes into great detail describing the courage and valor that was shown by these Japanese soldiers in their engagements against the Germans. The story of the rescue of the “lost battalion” in no exception. McCaffrey’s recollection of that event truly captures the courageous spirit and fearlessness of the 442nd and demonstrated their crucial role in the rescue of the trapped U.S.
Beauty Pageants.” Journal of Law & Policy 18.2 (2010): 739-774. Academic Search Complete. Web. 19. Mar. 2014.
Kennedy, David M., Lizabeth Cohen, and Thomas A. Bailey. The American Pageant, 14e. Boston: Wadsworth, 2010. Print.
“She represents the type of womanhood America needs, strong, red-blooded, able to shoulder the responsibilities of homemaking and motherhood. It is in her type that the hope of the country rests” (Martin & Watson, 2004, p.3). This was Samuel Gompers sharing his thoughts about the very first “Miss America”, Margaret Gorman. The Miss America Pageant was established in the most fitting of all decades: the 1920s. During a time when women were just starting to experience newfound independence and rights, the Miss America Pageant strengthened the idea that women had more freedom to express themselves. The competition began as a simple tourist attraction, but the fact that the Miss America Pageant survived throughout the decades exemplifies that the competition was so much more.
As a child a can vividly recall experiencing feelings of something significant that these soldiers had accomplished for the United States. As an adult, the visual artwork evoked similar reactions. According to Gerry Brown in his article From Allied invasion to national symbol, he asserts, "During the winter of 1945, in the midst of World War II, the Pacific island of Iwo Jima, part of Japan, was an attractive target for the Allied command" (Infoplease). Brown further indicates "Iwo Jima, well within striking distance of Tokyo, was seen as an ideal staging area for expanded bombing runs with fighter cover and a key location for damaged bombers to land in emergency situations" (Infoplease). This evidence puts into context the history behind the picture and begins to shape visualization for us. Clearly, from the image what is visible in terms of its form, we can see the cultural text is conveying optimism and it evokes the emotions of hope, grit, and determination. What is invisible in the cultural text is the lives lost during this grueling battle between the armed forces of both sides and the lives impacted as result of this
In every movie one major factor that contributes to it is the setting of the movie; in this case hence the name, takes place in Iwo Jima, Japan. Director Clint Eastwood, asked permission from the Japanese government to sorta renovate the island; to use it for the “set” of his movie. This adds a level of realism to the movie, using the actual island in which the war was waged on adds a nice touch of authenticity. Continuing on, the defenses that were depicted in the movie ranged from a wide array, from bunkers to artillery encampments deep in the mountain sides, and even underground machine gun nests. The reason these are important is that it shows the strategy and tactics used by the Japanes...
Eastwood draws interest from both Japanese and American audiences in Letters from Iwo Jima by letting the side of the battle be seen from the Japanese point of view. Not only is the film made by true Japanese actors, as oppose to Asian- American actors, but also the entire film is spoken in Japanese with English subtitles. This gains the appreciation of the Japanese not only because it is in their own language, but also because the characters are more realistic and authentic when played by Japanese born actors. The Battle of Iwo Jima played a great deal of importance during the war due to the fact that if the Americans captured it, they would be one step closer to being able to invade Japan’s mainland. Japan’s strategy entering the Battle of Iwo Jima was not to win the fight, but instead, kill as many Americans as possible. The Japanese had been trained to always fight to the end, never give up, and especially never surrender...
In this 21st century, it is not odd to see beauty pageant competitions all around the world. Atlantic City was the first to introduce beauty pageant in the 1920s. The world of pageantry was introduced when the business owner need a source of attraction for tourists after Labor Day. This business started with swimming suit competition and later added as the years passed by. In the 1950s, pageantry became famous when it was aired on television. However, in the 1970s, this competition received negative press due to the Feminist Act. The age limit for beauty pageant range from 0 to 18 and this has been going on for over 50 years (Williams, 2010).
Banet-Weiser, Sarah. ‘The Most Beautiful Girl in the World: Beauty Pageants and National Identity.” Berkley: University of California Press: 1999.
The history of pageants has dated back to the 1920s, when the first Miss America, Margaret Gorman, was crowned. According to research, The United States has traced back its roots of pageantry where it even dates back when the Women’s Liberation and Civil Rights Movement started. In the early 1920s, also known as the “Roaring Twenties,” women did not have any rights in the United States. Society during this time saw women having the role of being married and staying at home while taking care of their kids and tending to their homely duties. Women in the 1920s were in the process of fighting for their right to vote as well as having equal rights in America and being able to work in the workforce. On August 18, 1920, the change for women’s rights had just begun, the 19th amendment passed by congress granted women the right to vote in the United States. The labor force for women was beginning to change as well. Women were once seen having the role of “feminine” jobs. Society saw women taking jobs like nursing and teaching. Men did not like the fact that the w...