Can Jane Fonda be forgiven?

pctacitus · Senior Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 354 Gender:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/...onda02.xml

I came across the above article, and was wondering, can Jane Fonda be forgiven?

"...Thirty-three years after the photograph was taken in a gun pit outside the North Vietnamese capital, Fonda regrets her treachery towards "the country that gave me privilege"...

"She made the comments in an interview to be broadcast on the CBS current affairs programme 60 Minutes tomorrow night. She said of the series of pictures showing her laughing and applauding the gun crew: "The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter... sitting on an enemy aircraft gun was a betrayal."

"She added that the photograph amounted to the "largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine"."

The reaction has not been very positive, as with "Chuck Schantag, a former marine who runs the PoW Network, said: "She should have been indicted for treason. If she turned up to apologise, the PoWs would just skin her alive. She offered aid and comfort to the North Vietnamese."

Joe Davis, a spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, said: "Some things can never be forgiven. Jane Fonda falls into that category.""

…[T]o ignore the classics is ultimately to weaken the very foundations of our society. - James Atlas, Book Wars: What it Takes to be Educated in America

Loricat · Graduate Student Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 446 Gender:

Here it is: the reason I would never want to be famous...Do something stupid and no one ever forgets. Do something which at the time seems politically astute (to you) as a publicity stunt, and later you can never live it down.

In my opinion, the type of person who cares about this issue (for example, ex-POWs) will never be able to see the situation from her point of view. She was young, the young people in the country were demonstrating against the USA's involvement in Vietnam, and she came up with a 'brilliant' idea that she thought would make a statement, or the right kind of statement. Young, and definitely stupid. She should be forgiven, but she won't be.

Lori

"All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds."

pctacitus · Senior Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 354 Gender:

Funny, when I think of publicity stunts, treason doesn't fall into that category.

…[T]o ignore the classics is ultimately to weaken the very foundations of our society. - James Atlas, Book Wars: What it Takes to be Educated in America

jjacobs43 · Experienced Joined: 24 Sep 2004 Posts: 111 Gender:

Quote:
Funny, when I think of publicity stunts, treason doesn't fall into that category.

So, I guess the subject line question was rhetorical then?

Ken Hemingway · Intern Joined: 22 Dec 2004 Posts: 188 Gender:

Lori wrote: She was young.

At the time of her trip to North Vietname she was 35 - two years younger than you, Lori.

Tessa3 · Eligible to vote! Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 23 Gender:

Oh yes--I have had the same things said about me--until my defenders pointed out that I am a veteran whereas those pointing the fingers had not served at all. How cavalier to point fingers at those who oppose tyranny.

I love the attached article. Different war, same point: www.serendipity.li/bush/bowman01.htm

pctacitus · Senior Joined: 28 Feb 2003 Posts: 354 Gender:

Ken,
So what if she was just 35, John McCain, who was tortured for refusing to see her was younger then that when he was shot down.

…[T]o ignore the classics is ultimately to weaken the very foundations of our society. - James Atlas, Book Wars: What it Takes to be Educated in America

Loricat · Graduate Student Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 446 Gender:

Okay, so she was 35. Not necessarily young, but definitely stupid. In the late 60s, protest was the new 'thing', everyone was doing it, all over the world (I'm in the midst of "1968" by Mark Kurlansky). Deciding to visit North Vietnam in protest of an unpopular war is not that far a stretch of (albeit idiotic) reason. At the time, when she came up with the idea, I'm sure she found more than one person who, stoned out of their trees, said: "cool, man. That'll sure stick it to the Man!"

Historically, there's many instances of people supporting the 'wrong' side of an engagement...The Spanish Civil War (1930s) had had a lot of famous and semi-famous people fighting on the side of the anarchists. Lots of people support Castro's Cuba.

Everything is clearer in retrospect, and the average citizen of the USA has enough other targets in current events to lob critical bombs at than some 3rd rate actress who, 30-some years ago, did something abysmally stupid.

That said, there is my Buddhist tag line "All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds." The onus is on the individual to think about the consequences of their actions, as they will never live them down. Too bad none of us are perfect.

Lori

"All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds."

Tessa3 · Eligible to vote! Joined: 08 Nov 2004 Posts: 23 Gender:

McCain was 35; Fonda was 35. So what!?

The average age of soldiers in Vietnam was only 19. Draft deferments were available to those in college which meant the war was fought by children of the poor. 1,000,000 Vietnamese soldiers and 4,000,000 civilians were killed in the war. 58,226 American soldiers also died in the war or are missing in action. They were more than numbers in a history book. They were my classmates, family members and friends.

We at home were engaged in a battle for the hearts and minds of the nation. Some of the strongest opposition, however, came from the soldiers themselves who began to question the morality of the war. Vietnam Veterans Against The War was formed in 1967 and grew rapidly to 30,000 returning service men and women.

I see from the age poll that no one here was old enough to remember the Vietnam War. I am afraid that we did not, as a nation, learn from the war, and my children and grandchildren will suffer the consequences.

Loricat · Graduate Student Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 446 Gender:

Tessa3 -- I read the linked article you posted...yup, strong stuff. I won't comment because I'm neither a veteran nor a citizen of the USA.

Lori

"All beings are the owners of their deeds, the heirs to their deeds."


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