American Cinema Post 8: The War Film

In the typical war film, women take on the role of representing a romantic counterpoints to males. The male who has a wife, girlfriend, or fiance waiting back home for him is usually the one who is seen as weak and unprepared for combat. Men, in the typical war film, who have significant others, have an emotional attachment that is seen as a weakness unbefitting a true soldier. This counter-productive (at least in the opinion of the typical war movie creators) emotionallity usually leads to the soldier being one of the least likely to survive and one of the first candidates to be killed in the film. This convention can be seen in the films Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo and Air Force where the respective heroes' mere interaction with their wives leads to their ultimate injuries and death respectively. This convention was also parodied in the film Hot Shots! when a soldier bids farewell to his wife before taking off in his fighter jet, immediately after which he crashes and burns.
If each human has the potential to possess both feminine and masculine characteristics, then the war film seeks to make clear that men must repress their femininity to as high a degree as possible to ensure their survival and fighting prowess. Films such as Boys in Company C, Heartbreak Ridge, and Steel Helmet drive this intention home by showing scenes where the drill sargeant demeaningly refers to the recruits as "ladies" or "ballerinas." It seems that the emotionality associated with women or femininity seeks to undermine soldiers in every regard. Not only must the soldier have no significant other and a harsh repression of his femininity, but he must also repress his inherint emotionality. This can be seen in the film Twelve O'Clock High where the general argues that by yelling at and debasing the soldiers, one makes them emotionally dependant. Emotional dependance upon himself is a weakness because if he were to not be around to order them, they would not be able to function. This is proven, when he treats them with no emotion during their training, and when he collapses on the battleground, they are able to go on without him.
The incompatability of emotion and feminine attributes with the typical soldier in war films can be expressed by the interaction between him and his wife. After coming back from the war front to his wife, having already gone through the masculinizing process of boot camp and the demoralizing experience of combat, the soldier typically finds himself in an unknown realm, unable to function properly. This can be seen in the film Heartbreak Ridge, where Clint Eastwood's character is a Marine who finds himself unable to be the husband his wife needs. She ultimately divorces him as he tries to adapt to a more feminine lifestyle befitting that of a normal functioning relationship.