Forget Apocalypse Now
It’s the fortieth anniversary of Apocalypse Now’s voyeuristic adventure to the dark side of human nature. But the real victims of the Vietnam War are forgotten in its cheap thrills.
In March of 2017, President Trump met with leaders of veterans groups and got in an absurd argument about Apocalypse Now.
A representative of Vietnam Veterans of America emphasized to the president the need to designate more diseases as caused by Agent Orange. In response Trump insisted, “that’s taken care of.” Puzzled attendees quizzed him, and Trump wondered if Agent Orange was “that stuff from that movie.”
He was wrong on both points. Veterans suffering from Agent Orange–related illnesses are far from taken care of. And as attendees quickly pointed out, Robert Duvall’s infamous line in “that movie” was “I love the smell of napalm in the morning,” not Agent Orange. Trump derailed the meeting to poll everyone in the room about the line. They all agreed it was napalm.
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