The Subversion of the American Warrior-Hero Archetype in Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter (1978)

Abstract

This article examines the complexities of social experience drawn from popular mythology for reconstructing the Vietnam War. It relates to issues on the construct of the warrior-hero in its American setting. The study focuses on Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter, which depicts Mike as a heroic figure, setting out to conquer the wilderness by killing a deer with one shot. The act of killing is a rite of passage to manhood and the hunt is a spiritual endeavor. He is cast in the role of a western hero and leader of his friends, Nick and Steven. Mike attempts to dominate nature with his heroic deeds. This paper also unveils the reversal of American cultural ideology of masculinity when the main character comes into contact with Vietnam, which is a hostile frontier landscape. However, he is disillusioned because of the chaotic nightmare inversion of the environment. Despite his dreams of omnipotence, he dramatically collapses there. The US mythology is undermined by the encounter with the horrors of war in Vietnam. The realities of the battlefield foreshadow the crisis of cultural and religious myths Mike embodies.