Post by Terrapin Station on Sept 19, 2017 13:05:01 GMT
Because in the past it was a different story. For example, here's a page that explains a handful of films' relationship to Vietnam:
www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Romantic-Comedy-Yugoslavia/Vietnam-War-VETERANS-AND-ALLEGORIES-1964-1975.html
That doesn't exhaust the Vietnam response films, but it gives an example of something that was very common.
Lots of filmmakers traditionally have wanted their work to be on the cutting edge of social, political, etc. commentary, even if they're doing it in a fairly veiled way, simply because that's something that's common for artists to want to do. They're engaged with the world, they're often quite passionately opinionated, and their means of expression is their artistic work.