Born on the Fourth of July was a very captivating and powerful film that will have a lasting effect on me. Oliver Stone, who won the 1989 Best Director Oscar for the film, also wrote, and produced it. He tells the true story of Ron Kovic, an American kid from Massapequa, Long Island that fought in the Vietnam War, who is played by Tom Cruise. It also stars Kyra Segwick, Raymond J. Barry, William Dafoe, and Frank Whaley. This film accurately illustrates not only what went on for the soldiers fighting in the Vietnam War and the effects that the war had at home, but also the social attitudes throughout the country during the 1950s and other major movements during the time of the war, that like the anti-war sentiment, were largely a response to the pressures of the 1950s. A lot was changing in America during this time...