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Vietnam-Based Shooters - A Suitable Topic?
Thanks to GamePro for their 'Pro Vs. Pro' feature focusing on Vietnam-based combat games are justified in their choice of setting. Opinions vary from: "I can't say that I can ever look on Vietnam games as being in good taste", through: "..if it's handled with respect, not only to the soldiers but to the reality of the war and the people involved, then I'll be right there lined up", to: "If developers make the claim of 'historical accuracy', they owe it to the veterans, victims, and the audience to cast an unflinching look at the human consequences of war."
Except that it was from Full Metal Jacket.
Why is Vietnam so taboo? Korea was awful and we got MASH.
MASH was a commentary on Vietnam, it's just that Vietnam was so taboo (especially at that time) that they set it in Korea. The simple fact is that helicopters (especially the types depicted in MASH) were not nearly as heavily used in Korea as in Vietnam (not to mention that it's been stated many times by the series' creators that this was the case).
I'm not saying that we shouldn't be able to make games based on Vietnam, just that it does cause some concern when people try to portray it in any medium.
-PainKilleR-[CE]
The principles on which the Vietcong fought were just as 'evil' as the principles of Saddam and Bin Laden and Hitler at that time.
Yes, the North Vietnamese were supported by China and the USSR, but the whole scenario was just very complicated, it seems. This entry at Wikipedia discusses things in more detail. If you follow some of the links, you'll see that the Vietnam war has its roots in efforts for indpendence from French colonization. If this doesn't leave Americans feeling somewhat conflicted over the whole situation, then perhaps they should look back about 200 years in US history. There just isn't a unabmiguous blatant smoking gun like "Hitler Invades Poland" or "Japs Attack Pearl Harbor," nor does there appear to be full justification for what happened. Like I said, it was just complicated.
Healthcare article at Kuro5hin
I believe the thread you are responding to meant that there is no justification for war, because it is invariably worse than the problem it seeks to solve.
Regarding your question in the first paragraph: The only lasting methods of social change are nonviolent, so the answer is through nonviolent methods. You might find George Orwell's Reflections On Gandhi relevant. Gandhi's comment regarding the Jews in Nazi Germany is distasteful and unpleasant, but most likely true. The last two sentences of your post are arguing from an emotional point of view, and I can only hope that should such a tragedy befall me, I will remain rational enough to practice what I preach.
Actually, the helicopters in the film and TV show MASH were used extensivly in the Korean War by the United Nations.
The bubble cockpit piston driven helo from MASH is the H-13 Sioux (model 47) from Bell Aircraft. It was produced from 1946 to 1973. They were used for medivac and recon starting in 1951 and they evacuated around 18,000 UN casualties during the conflict.
The Sioux was replaced by the OH-6A Cayuse early in the Vietnam conflict.
In Korea the Navy used the Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw and the H-21 Shawnee