16AThe Daily Tar HeelThursday, August 31, 1989
Union a
'V
r
j v
- 1
? -1 ! i '
i . fi
I J
'Rain Man' is but one of the Union movies offered this fall
Newest Vietnam film helps hide truth
By HASANTHIKA SIRISENA
Staff Writer
Welcome to the age of the handy
dandy, all-purpose conscience clean
er. It's fast, easy and sometimes enter
taining. It isn't cheap, but then, noth
ing is these days. And it's a luxury
that only modern culture can afford.
What I'm talking about is the
Vietnam movie.
We know the story well; it is a pop
ular cultural myth. Young, idealistic
college student joins the cause of jus
tice and righteousness and goes to
fight in the big, mean jungles of
Vietnam.
But lo and behold, he gets to
Vietnam, and it isn't Kansas. It's not
only hot and dirty; it has hills 4ts
of them. To make it worse, they are
not your average, benign hills. These
hills have Vietcong crawling all over
them. The Vietcong are like cock
roaches; you can step on them, swat
them, shoot them, napalm them, but
you cannot kill them.
If that weren't bad enough, our
young, idealistic soldier has to hang
out with soldiers who are not as nice
as he is. They use bad words. They
rape, plunder and pillage. They are
sometimes even evil incarnate. The
college graduate manages to survive
man-eating sergeants, the loss of his
good buddies (all of whom had two
STEP'S
University Square Chapel Hill 967-8935
haven to
A '
1,
; x - .
-
-
more weeks to serve before going
home) and the Vietnamese, who all
look alike, so you can't tell the bad
from the good.
This young man, in an hour and 50
minutes, is supposed to show us how
bad and brutal war is and how it turns
idealistic minds into cruel callous
killing machines. That is the Vietnam
War.
Or is it?
College graduates did not fight the
Vietnam War. The majority of the sol
diers could not afford to go to college.
None of these movies ever offer a
three-dimensional black character, but
most of the soldiers sent to Vietnam
were black.
Even fewer of these movies ever
address the culture difference in any
understanding way. Let's face it, these
movies do not deal with the
Vietnamese at all or with the fact that
the American armies could not under
stand the culture, and as a result,
adapt to fighting the Vietnamese.
None of these movies deal with the
psychology that led to the Vietnam
War and maintained it even during the
undeniable anger it evoked among the
American populace.
Few of these movies seem to deal
effectively with even the basic factors
that led to the downfall of the
American initiative in Southeast Asia:
Over 100 Students Accepted
by NC School of Arts
Ballet
Jazz Tap
Ballroom
Modern
Children
Adults
Beginning
Advanced
Year 'Round Classes
Rams Plaza
15-501 ByPass
Chapel Hill, NC
942-1088
movie junkies
By ELIZABETH MURRAY
Staff Writer
If a guy took a different girl to
every Union movie before Fall Break,
he could spend a mere $18 on 30 dif
ferent dates.
Moviegoers who enjoy watching
films solo could see 30 movies for
only $9.
And they'd be getting their
money's worth, according to senior
Mark Ricker, chairman of the Union
Film Committee.
Highlights of this semester's movie
lineup include: "Rain Man," "All the
President's Men" and "The
Accidental Tourist." Only six of the
Union movies before Oct. 18 will
have an admission fee.
Of course, there will' be those stu
dents who do not go and will
never go to Union films. In fact,
the three most popular student
responses to Union movies seem to
be: "There's just no time," "I live off
campus" and "The Union shows free
films?"
But this semester the committee
hopes to offer something for every
one, Ricker said. With a new format
for the posters listing Union films and
a wide variety of films, the series
should draw a larger audience, he
said.
Ricker said the film committee
organized some of its lineup by cate
gory this semester.
Special events include a human
rights festival featuring "The Killing
Fields" and "The Official Story,"
sequel weekends, and 50th anniver
sary movies like "Wuthering Heights"
and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington."
the reduction of fighting to mere reac
tions to Vietnames offensives, the
inability to define a definite enemy,
the inability to define a clear objec
tive. These movies reduce Vietnam to a
hopeless battle between history and
allegory. However, history and alle
gory are both complex and intricate,
requiring the utmost care and skill to
be effective. Unfortunately for these
movies, both devices are the hardest
to carry off in the time afforded by an
average Hollywood movie.
Take, for example, the newest
addition to the rapidly growing list of
Vietnam movies, "Casualties of War."
The movie is based on the factual
account of four American soldiers
raping a Vietnamese farm girl. The
movie suffers under the brunt of
severe indecision and hypocrisy and
focuses on the wrong people. You
cannot teach soldiers to kill an enemy,
who by necessity they see as evil, and
then convict them for behaving
immorally during war time.
"Casualties of War" could have
been much more effective if it had
dealt with the cultural difference
between the soldiers and the
Vietnamese woman and the roots of
the soldiers' hatred instead of the
superficial explanation given.
This movie like so many of the
yj
Welcome Back Students!
Come by and see our
September Specials.
Try our new drink
"The Funky Cold Medina"
(SgdIIEgfp cBfinolGBiiGs EDoini'fi
AT SPECIAL
1 Mb, FDD controller, 1.2 Mb
floppy disk drive & 360 Kb floppy
disk drive, 1 01 keyboard, 230W
power supply, video adapter w
graphics & printer port
wmonochrome monitor ..... $995
wcolor monitor ................ $1 099
PRINTER SPECIAL
Star NX-1 000 NLQ narrow body
In the past, some students have
complained about the quality of
sound and production in the film
showings, Ricker said. One group of
students even presented the commit
tee with a profane petition demanding
new equipment be bought for the
films.
Ricker said that sound quality
should improve this semester
although there is no new equipment.
He said students should keep in mind
that a film itself is often to blame
rather than the equipment used to pro
ject it.
Because most of the movies are
free, students really have no place to
complain about the quality of produc
tion, but viewers should be allowed to
have food and drink in the theater,
one student said.
"One time a friend and I brought a
bucket of bones to a midnight movie
and we had to leave them outside,"
said Ann Frey, a senior from New
London. "By the time we came out,
they were cold."
But students are not without their
fond memories of Union films.
One senior recalled being very
confused when, in the spring of 1986,
the Union Film Committee mistaken
ly showed the X-rated version of
"The Man Who Fell to Earth" instead
of the somewhat shorter R-rated ver
sion. He said he could not figure out
how he had slept through so many
"good" parts when he saw the movie
the first time.
Those students who do attend think
the films are worth the occasional
inconvenience. "I like to be with
other students, plus I want to get the
most out of student fees," Frey said.
others fails as a dedicated history
and fails to explain itself if indeed it
is an allegory. Histories and allegories
need time and distance to develop.
Without distance, you only manage to
dredge up painful inaccuracies and
hopelessly muddled feelings, and that
is the basic flaw of all of these
movies. The films seem unable to
define the themes because we still
can't define Vietnam.
But even if Vietnam movies fail as
histories or as allegories, they still
have a purpose. Earlier, I called them
conscience salves, and that, in the
end, is exactly their function. If you
want to know the psychology of the
war, read the excellent novels on
which these movies are based. If you
want to read about the politics behind
the war, read the historians who go
into excruciating detail about the
massive stupidity of the American
establishment in dealing with
Vietnam.
If, however, you want to get rid of
Vietnam, turn to Hollywood and bury
it under a massive pile of media rub
ble. For $4.40, you can do a two-hour
tour of duty, intellectualize the con
flict, feel sorry for the soldiers who
fought and walk away thinking that
by forcing yourself to watch it, you
have absolved yourself of any con
nection with it.
...and Joel remembers how hard it can be
for students to get the things they need to
maketheirworkeasierandimprovegrades.
That is why he put together these fantastic
student specials so that even those on a
small budget can now own a computer!
XT SPECIAL
640 Kb, 2 floppy disk drives, parallel
port, enhanced keyboard, video
graphics adapter, high-performance
1 50W power supply
with monochrome monitor .......$595.00
with color monitor .................... $71 9.00
call...
mwmm
nnfiTnn
7Q4-3G4-4316
Quest for books
need not become
annual headache
By LEIGH PRESSLEY
Staff Writer
For many UNC students, buying
textbooks requires a comfortable
pair of shoes, a fat checking
account and a big bottle of
Excedrin.
But three area stores are work
ing to relieve students of the hassle
of book buying.
UNC Student Stores offers a
central campus location, which is
convenient for students without
cars, said John Jones, the store's
assistant manager for books and
computers.
New books are sold at publish
er's prices and used books at a 25
percent discount, Jones said.
"You should try to buy used
books and sell them at the end of
the semester," he said. "If you keep
getting money back, you should
end up paying about one-fourth of
the book's original price. You're
recycling your dollar."
During the book-buying rush,
long lines usually crowd the
Student Stores. The new central
staircase should help alleviate this
problem, Jones said.
"Students should be able to go
up the central stairs into the book
area, pick up their books, go to the
cash register and be on their way,"
he said. "It creates a big circle
without crossing lines and results in
a better flow of traffic."
Stephanie Sarrat, a freshman
from New Orleans, said she missed
the crowd by buying her books
early at Student Stores. "I just
thought it would be a lot easier,"
she said. "It's nearer to my dorm,
and I have to walk everywhere."
Jones recommended that stu
dents buy books early in the morn
ing, late at night or at the end of the
book rush to avoid long lines.
"The problem with saving time
is there are so many students buy
ing so many books in such a short
period of time," he said.
Student Stores book rush hours
are: 7:45 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday
through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday.
Pop's Tarheel Textbooks at 301
W. Franklin St. offers a wide selec
tion of used books.
Darren Evans, the store's general
manager, said that being able to
drive to the store makes book buy
ing easier for students with cars.
"Our biggest attraction is a park
ing lot at the door," he said. "It's
convenient to drive up, get what
We have a category for
you! DTH Classifieds!!!
The Perfect and Unique Setting For Any
Special Occasion In The Triangle Area
The Dragon 's Garden
"The Gourmet restaurant that's different.. and better. "
407 W.Franklin St
Chapel Hill, NC
Next to McDonald's
S U
All summer clothing
Rental Equipment.
Soft Luggage
Sierra Designs
405 W. Franklin St. 929-7626
Hours: M-F 1 0-7 Sat. 106
you need and head out on your .
way. Also, we sell a lot of used
books to help save students money.
We sell most basic liberal arts
books for undergraduates."
Pop's Tarheel Textbooks sells
books at the same standard prices
as Student Stores, he said.
Most students appreciate having
a choice. "I like being able to com
pare prices," said Rob Withers, a
first year graduate student from
Cincinnati.
Pop's Tarheel Textbooks' hours
are: 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday
through Friday and 10 a.m. to 4
p.m. on Saturday.
The Alpha Phi Omega book co
op provides an opportunity for stu
dents to buy books at low prices
and sell used books.
Students can register their
books, setting their own prices, in
the spring and fall. If the books are
sold, a portion of the selling price is
returned to the student.
Tara Lapham, coordinator of the
APO project, said 85 percent of the
profit is returned to the student and
the remaining 15 percent is given to
the Bernard Grail Scholarship
Fund.
"Basically, we sell the books for
them," she said. "They price their
own books and sell them for what
they want to."
Lapham, a junior from
Burlington, said both the seller and .
the buyer get a better deal.
"The student can get more
money, because the price they set is -usually
lower than used books at ;
Student Stores and you get more;
money than if you sell books back;
at the end of the semester," she;
said.
Lapham said the variety of APO :
books depends on what people are
trying to sell.
Lapham said the spring book
drive usually results in more books
than the fall drive does.
'There's a better return of books
in the spring, because people like to
have money for vacation or don't
want to bring books back after the
summer," she said.
Lapham said students who know
what books they need can get good
deals. "If they know what they need
and don't mind looking through,
they can get a better price with us,"
she said. "In the long run, it will
save money to check with us."
The APO book co-op is in the
Union rooms 211, 212 and 213.
Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesday through Friday for the
next three weeks.
Lunch 11-2 pm
Dinner: Weekdays 5-9:30 pm
Weekends 5-1 0:30 pm Please call for reservations
Take Out Available 933-1 234 929-8 1 43
Open 7 Days a Week
M M E o n
Wed. Aug. 30 - Sat. Sept. 2
Up to 50 OFF!
Sailboards
Canoes
Many major brands
TRAIL SHOP
Ckaprl Hill
Mac 1.71
printer for only $1 90.95
ALL ARE FULL Y GUARANTEED!