#adrian cronauer

[gijoe-forever]

[80smovies]

[rlwhitesillustrations]

GOOOOOOD MORNING, AGRABAH!

Hey guys, I am back! I'm starting December off here with #Disember2024 Day 9: Robin Williams (Genie in Adrian Cronauer's uniform from Good Morning, Vietnam as a funny radio DJ).

Robin Williams is no doubt, one of the funniest people on the planet earth and he's a Chicagoan like myself. If you ever felt sad/depressed, his comedy can erase the blues and replace it with a chuckle. It's tragic that a funny man like Robin also had to battle depression himself. He is gone but his legacy is forever lived. 🫡

[retropopcult]

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

[theoscarsproject]

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987). In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.

Robin Williams is great, as always, but this isn't a film that's aged particularly well. It's heart feels manufactured, and despite being set in the radio newsroom of Vietnam, it somehow manages to feel apolitical? A feat in and of itself. A killer soundtrack though, and Forest Whitaker was a delightful surprise. 7/10.

[discowinch]

Love this

[miyoppilot]

Ben pes ettim. Saçmalıklardan bıktım. Ben gidiyorum artık. 

— Good Morning, Vietnam / Günaydın Vietnam / 1987

[anthrotographer]

Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)

Directed by Barry Levinson

Robin Williams was such a talented man. This is one of his best films that I’ve seen. In this movie Williams plays a radio host/ comedian named Adrian Cronauer who is transferred to do a radio show in the heart of the Vietnam war. Cronauer is quickly a fan favorite with all the American soldiers occupying Vietnam because of his boisterous, funny personality and Rock & Roll loving taste.

Cronauer is a flawed man, but he is one that is at least not so ignorant to the realities of war. Specifically the conflict in Vietnam. The higher ups in command want to censor the news that the soldiers on the frontlines are getting, especially information about any casualties happening. Cronauer fights against this censorship repeatedly, knowing that the soldiers, many of them young adults drafted into an unjust war, need to be made aware of their situation. The film shows how one voice speaking truth to power and putting compassion into their work can lift the spirits of a whole group of people.

Dehumanization of the Vietnamese was also a big problem during this time, partly because of the censorship of news and propaganda fed to the troops. Good Morning, Vietnam thankfully sheds light on this with Cronauer learning to see the world through Tuan and Trinh’s eyes (main Vietnamese characters). The revelation that Tuan is working with the Vietcong shatters Cronauer. He doesn’t get it. He has a more balanced moral compass than any other American character in the movie, but he is flawed in this way. But the audience is supposed to get it. The United State’s military occupation and proceeding war waging in Vietnam killed so many people, so many innocent civilians. Countless people were left without family members just like Tuan. He was radicalized because of that, it wouldn’t have happened otherwise. And this is a lesson that the U.S. and our military doesn’t learn on purpose because that would slow down the Military Industrial Complex. So the same thing has happened in the Middle East because of our interventionist wars over there. The points that this movie brings up are very honorable and that is what makes me love this movie.

P.S. There are some flaws to this movie though don’t get me wrong. Especially if you want to look at it through a modern lense. Cronauer can come across at times as misogynistic and is bordering on harassing Trinh in this. It’s a common trope in old comedies where the man won’t quit harassing a girl till he gets a date or something. You can see that here even though the movies always play it off as harmless. Good Morning, Vietnam is not so that slimy though I just thought I’d mention it since it was a thought I had.

P.S.2. Watch this movie just for young Forrest Whitaker. He’s great.

Rating: 8/10