Aahana Swrup
‘Born on the Fourth of July,’ a 1989 anti-war film, follows the story of Ron Kovic, whose sense of patriotism compels him to become a US Marine and volunteer for two tours in the Vietnam War. During his time in the army, the soldier witnesses numerous horrors of war before he’s shipped back to the States after an injury leaves him paralyzed from the chest down. As a result, traumatized by his experiences and struggling to cope with his newfound disability, Ron begins to realize war’s erroneous ways, becoming an adamant advocate for peace.
While Ron remains the center throughout the story, numerous characters surround his narrative, including friends, family, and fellow veterans. Donna, his childhood best friend and high school sweetheart, becomes one such character who moves in and out of Ron’s life in waves. Therefore, considering the film’s biographical roots in Ron Kovic’s real life, Donna’s basis in reality comes under natural questioning.
Donna: A Character Crafted for the Biopic
Oliver Stone’s biographical war drama, ‘Born on the Fourth of July,’ retains a connection to reality due to its source material, the eponymous book written by the actual Ronald Lawrence Kovic. Since the film employs Kovic’s biography as its basis— alongside sporting the real Vietnam War Veteran as the co-writer for its screenplay— the on-screen story ends up holding an indisputable accuracy to reality in most instances. Nevertheless, as a cinematic adaptation, Stone’s work still utilizes creative liberty where necessary, mixing fiction into the reality-driven narrative. Considering Donna’s character doesn’t make an appearance in Kovic’s original 1976 biography, it becomes evident that her character is unique to the film’s storyline.
Kovic’s book delves into the author’s childhood and upbringing, highlighting the way his surroundings compelled him to idolize the military from a certain perspective. Nonetheless, the book never mentions a childhood friend or teenage romantic crush named Donna, who might have left a significant imprint on Kovic. Inversely, in the film, the character is almost intrinsic to Ron’s journey of accepting the war for all its faults, jumpstarting his activism against it. Most notably, the on-screen veteran attends an anti-war rally on the Kent State University campus with Donna, which leads him to witness the Kent State Shootings in person. Reportedly, in his book, Kovic describes having watched the historical shootings on television.
Donna’s Influence Over Ron Kovic’s Story
Donna’s character loses credibility as a real-life person due to the lack of a mention of a similar individual in Ron Kovic’s biographical book. Still, since the author also served as a co-writer for the film, it’s likely that even elements that were fictionalized for the film retain some connection to reality. In his more recent 2024 book, ‘A Dangerous Country: An American Elegy,’ one of his diary entries from the time between his first and second tour, the author mentions a girlfriend. “She has much poise and is a wonderful girl,” he writes about the anonymous girlfriend in his book. “I think if I would have met her six months ago, I wouldn’t be going back [to his second tour]. But what’s done is done, and I shall never regret it.”
Even though the description doesn’t offer a mirror image of Donna, who never visibility dates Ron on-screen, Kyra Sedgwick’s character in the film might have been modeled after the reality of the same person. Nevertheless, since a significant part of Donna’s small addition in Ron Kovic’s cinematic biography seems to be fictitious, her character is similarly rendered of fictional origins. For the most part, her character serves to keep a sense of romance alive within the film and guide the protagonist towards where he needs to be. As such, the film only utilizes Donna’s presence to provide the spark that Ron needs to fuel his anti-war sentiments and set him on the path toward peace activism. Consequently, compared to the other, more biographically accurate aspects of the film, Donna’s character falls short and becomes confined by the film’s narrative.
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