War Over War Movies
Before Vietnam, war movies were either gung-ho patriotic starring John Wayne or philosophically anti-war, starting with “All Quiet on the Western Front.â€
This week the Los Angeles Times has been OpEding an argument prompted by a conservative’s contention that today’s Hollywood “stakes out an anti-victory position on the current war in Iraq, continuing its deplorable 40-year streak of working against the United States’ strategic objectives at a time of war.â€
That’s a mouthful of accusation: 40 years of celluloid treason, and most Americans failed to notice. While there are legitimate questions about Brian DePalma’s latest opus, they don’t begin to support a collective indictment of Hollywood film-makers as disloyal to their country.
Looking back at decades of the best war movies, from “Paths of Glory†and “The Bridge on the River Kwai†to “Saving Private Ryan†and “Flags of Our Fathers,†what’s most striking is how apolitical they have been, evoking horror over the brutality, hypocrisy and waste of lives and/or celebrating the bloody gallantry of young people under fire.
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5 Responses to “War Over War Movies”
[...] unknown wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerptLooking back at decades of the best war movies, from “Paths of Glory†and “The Bridge on the River Kwai†to “Saving Private Ryan†and “Flags of Our Fathers,†what’s most striking is how apolitical they have been, evoking horror over the … [...]
Don’t these people have enough on their hands, with the wars on God, on the family, on drugs on immigration and on crime to fight?
This would be too ridiculour to even think about, except that the possibiliry of government censorship or being investigated by HS, the CIA or the FBI is not as farfetched as it once was
I wonder if you can be designated an enemy combatant for going to the wrong movie..
Interesting how this mimiics the control of arts by the likes of both Hitler and Stalin. I gress some would be happier in those circumstances.
[...] wrote an interesting post today on War Over War MoviesHere’s a quick [...]
[...] wrote an interesting post today on War Over War MoviesHere’s a quick [...]
Myabe Hollywood movies should protray wars the way the cable news networks do:
1) Introduce footage of the war with giant neon graphics and blaring music.
2) Show a picture of the American flag waving.
3) Show footage of fighter plans and things blowing up.
4) Show a picture of the American flag waving.
5) Include remarks by hawkish pundits cheering the might of our firepower and the righteousness of our cause.
6) Show a picture of the American flag waving.
7) Refuse to show any pictures of people actually dying or even the coffins of those who have died.