“Is this what we want for the twenty-first century?” asks former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara after discussing that the human race needs to think more of the consequences of killing and the conflict that surrounds it. Directed by Errol Morris, “Fog of War” is a documentary not only about McNamara’s important role in both the Cold War and Vietnam, but it is also about the hard lessons that he learned about human nature. Although the film gains insight of McNamara’s point of view and the impact the Vietnam War had on the White House staff (much less the country), there is an impression that McNamara is only telling the part of the story that fits his purpose.
When Errol Morris tries to ask McNamara questions in order to recount his actions during the Vietnam war, McNamara puts aside the questions and instead offers more advice by stating, “Never answer the question that’s been asked of you, answer the question you wished had been asked of you.” Although this might be good advice, the statement seems to be a way for him to snick around the truth. In fact, the documentary has eleven lessons of war (which were formed after McNamara looked back on his life and determined his mistakes) and the lessons serve as chapters in the film.
After each statement of the lessons, Morris shows visual commentary that flows with the lessons and the historical story line. The commentary shows war footage and the film also has clips of actual phone conversations between McNamara and John F. Kennedy, and then Lyndon B. Johnson. The war footage and phone conversations are the most direct way in which Morris tries to show the audience the effects of the war and the decisions McNamara had to base upon those effects. The audio and visual aids does help capture the meaning of the documentary, however when Morris tries to visually show the symbolism of the destruction and devastation of the war, it comes across as weak since the destruction is a scene of falling dominoes.
Out of all the lessons, number nine is the one that is the most attention grabbing because it states, “In order to do good, you may have to engage in evil.” McNamara may not be telling the full truth or his true actions during the Vietnam war, but he is not hiding anything in this lesson because… well, he cannot. Everybody in the country (especially those who lived through the war) knows that McNamara was the Secretary of Defense. He engaged in evil by shaping an unnecessary war, which lead to hundreds of thousands of deaths, and the only good that he did was help stop the war. McNamara explains that, “If we lost the war, we’d be prosecuted as war criminals.” Shortly then after, he makes a interesting point by asking the viewer to think about what is considered immoral in war. Overall, “Fog of War” may focus on McNamara’s career, but I believe this film is also about us as viewers in the sense that we need to think more about war and death. War may be complex, but we can try to understand.
