Wars, movies and our perceptions

[Dauphin]

Nearly every war in which the US has participated has been turned into a film. A lot of films glorify it, many show the horrors, others show human interest and ignore the truths completely. Few of us here have experienced or will ever experience war first hand, and so our only contact with it is through a relative or friend who has. I was just wondering how much war films effect people's perception of war.


A friend of mine came up with the conspiracy theory that Hollywood is against the next Gulf War because they want to throw everyone of the scent that they are actually delighted at the provision of fresh film making material.

Anyway, I read The Onion and it reminded me:

http://www.theonion.com/onion3910/gulf_war_2.html

[ThePlagueRat]

The Hollywood movies can be scary, for they are manipulating.
Weak minds can easily get brainwashed by watching enough movies. Which is used to give the Bush administation more support.

[Dis]

yes it does give them a lot of materials.

I am suprised that small conflicts had their own movies. Such as Kosovo and Somalia.

How many movies came out of Gulf war I though? I can only think of 2 at the moment. 3 Kings and that one movie with Meg Ryan as the pilot.

[GePap]

Well, movies about more modern wars end up being far more about small scale actions because the big scale acitons are so dispersed and quick they don't make for epic film making.

I don't see how this gulf war, anymore then the last one will inspire many films: i can think of maybe 1 dozen films that dealt in one way or another wit the first gulf war..actually, that is way, way too many..I can think of four of the top of my head, two of them being Hot Shots movies. Perhaps the follow-up occupation will lead to greater cinematic material.

[Zopperoni]

Bravo Two Zero is set in the Gulf War.

[DinoDoc]

The only movie I know that was set in the 1st Gulf War was the Three Kings.

[Dis]

Courage Under Fire was the name of the other one with Meg Ryan as a pilot who gets a medal of Honour. I think it is post humously (I have no idea how to spell that ). I haven't actually seen the whole movie though.

[Verto]

I think, to one extent or the other, movies do glorify war. Not all, but many. Is this necessarily a bad thing? Not in my opinion.

[Dis]

well that is interesting as most people consider hollywood liberal and anti-war.

but perhaps the screenwriters are conservatives? Maybe.

I don't think 3 Kings glorified war. Although the war wasn't the plot of the movie. It was just the setting.

[Verto]

I've also found that peculiar, Dissident. Certainly the actors(majority, anyway) are liberals anti-gun, anti-war, etc.

[GePap]

Originally posted by Dissident
well that is interesting as most people consider hollywood liberal and anti-war.

but perhaps the screenwriters are conservatives? Maybe.

I don't think 3 Kings glorified war. Although the war wasn't the plot of the movie. It was just the setting.

The plot was about the post Gulf War Shia rebellion that was crushed, not the actual Gulf War itself.

Hollywood could hardly have been called anti-war with the movies it made after the second world war. It is cyclical: during wars, hoolywoods movies were pro-war: if the war was viewed as tragic or flawed then pics became anit-war,. and if the war was een as heroic and victorious, pro-war.

[General Ludd]

Originally posted by GePap


The plot was about the post Gulf War Shia rebellion that was crushed, not the actual Gulf War itself.

Hollywood could hardly have been called anti-war with the movies it made after the second world war. It is cyclical: during wars, hoolywoods movies were pro-war: if the war was viewed as tragic or flawed then pics became anit-war,. and if the war was een as heroic and victorious, pro-war.

I don't know about that... I don't think that anti-war vietnam movies are as common as the usual rambo-style "good ol' boys" bull****. Although maybe they are, generally speaking, a bit more skeptical then WW2 usually movies are.

[ThePlagueRat]

From what has been said here, some movies can be subcounciously manipulating us watchers. So when someone says we are manipulated, we refuse because we don't know it ourselves...

[GePap]

Originally posted by Osweld


I don't know about that... I don't think that anti-war vietnam movies are as common as the usual rambo-style "good ol' boys" bull****. Although maybe they are, generally speaking, a bit more skeptical then WW2 usually movies are.

You have to take into acount the politics of the time:

1910's: the few movies made at this time are pro-war, due to the Us involveemnt in WW1. Example, wings.

From 1920's to 1940: relatively anti-war. Movies are either commedies about war, like Duck Soup or Great Dictator, or anti-war like All is Quiet on the Western Front.

1940-1960's: movies are either pro-war during the war, or we get these giant war spectacles like Battle of the Bulge. We also get some more quite films like Battlefield (or is it Battleground?) that explore the lives of a few men in battle. The end of this era comes with things like the Green Berets, John Wayne's pro-vietnam movie.

1970's anti-war movies geenrally, though not many are made about vietnam very quickly but instead wait until the late 70's.

1980s' during Reagan's time you had a few ani-war things like Platoon and far more por-war movies, since it was the time of batle against the evil empire, so we get things like rambo or Red Dawn.

[Urban Ranger]

Most Vietnam films I can remember are pretty much anti-war: Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, etc. But that is one war most Usians agree to detest, or maybe because there are so many anti-war movies on it? I can't tell