The Reluctant Gunslinger: Hollywood in the War on Terror
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Date
2018-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
It is not surprising news to say that movies reflect the social world in which we live in. However, they do not reflect it perfectly. While some films reflect popularly held beliefs within our society, other films seek to refract the values of filmmakers and other vested interest groups. The purpose of this thesis is to take into account the films of widespread release in American cinema that depict the events of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 the American public was strongly behind the president, but as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan continued, social attitudes began to shift. September 11 and the war on terror were, initially, difficult topics for filmmakers but by 2006, filmmakers managed to turn the trauma of 9/11 into movies of familiar and digestible narratives. With some exceptions, the master narrative that emerged regarding the trauma of 9/11 and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is overwhelmingly an unreflective one, disconnected from historical and geopolitical context. While it is enticing to dismiss film, saying, It’s only a movie, is there any more dynamic cultural artifact than popular film? Movies may not change a country, but they contribute. They can help inflame public debate, inform, educate, and act out our fears and fantasies. Hollywood has provided American audiences with cinematic catharsis to exorcise our post-9/11 demons. Amongst the films that emerged post-9/11 the villain is undeniably evil--and usually Muslim--and the heroes are our righteous patriots. This thesis aims to analyze cinematic depictions of 9/11 and the war on terror, and through a critical lens, evaluate the film’s content as well as factors that determine its success amongst American audiences. What does it mean for a country to remember? As fact and fiction have become further blurred within the sensation of “alternative facts”, it is difficult to distinguish cinematic fiction from reality. This thesis argues that the cinematic revision of the war on terror has largely been rewritten as a story of American victimization and exceptionalism.
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Keywords
9/11, war on terror, hollywood, George Bush, film, terrorism