A Look on US Propaganda in Movies
“We grew up in America, and we tell American stories in American settings within American frames of reference” (Coen). There is no doubt that Americans love movies that tell their shared stories. This is why Hollywood invests in movies that have an American perspective so that the audience will have no hard time watching them. Though, the following quote from Coen hints at something more than just having an “American perspective”: “Perhaps our way of reflecting our system is more comprehensible to non-Americans because they already see the system as something alien”. American filmmaking has always walked hand in hand with propaganda. While some movies are openly vocal about their political endorsement, some disguise as entertaining movies for the youth while containing subtle agendas. Clint Eastwood’s movie American Sniper and Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies are great examples for us to understand the difference between US propagandas. These films, who made international success, feeds its audience with propaganda through themes like glorification of US military, white saviorism and mythologization of war.
In a movie that entirely focuses on American soldiers and veterans, it is inevitable for American Sniper to not glorify the US army. It is based on a real American sniper, Chris Kyle, who shoots and kills in the Iraqi war and then gets PTSD afterwards. In the movie, even when he gets PTSD, he does not doubt the morals of what he did or his fellow soldiers did back in Iraq. And he condemns all veterans who question the legitimacy of US Army’s actions. This movie uses the real Chris Kyle’s story to show off the military training, its soldiers and how well the US is doing in Iraq. The director, Clint Eastwood, pushes his own conservative agenda to praise the government and the army without even realizing that he is criticizing American veterans who’ve actually been in service for having second doubts for their actions in war.
Marvel movies, on the other hand, has a very ironic way to praise the government because the superheroes actually disobey the law in order to save people. Though, most superheroes have a military history like Captain America who were a soldier in WW2, Iron Man whose father worked for the government in order to take down Nazis and Captain Marvel who also was a soldier in the Air Force. These heroes never miss an opportunity to mention their military background and pay tribute to those who’s fallen in wars.
One of the reasons why they never disrespect US soldiers is because the movies are actually funded by The Department of Defense. The producers send their scripts to an office at the Pentagon and if they’re given a go-ahead, “the filmmakers stand to access the most awesome arsenal in the world, and in turn, the image and message of the American armed forces get projected before a global audience.” And neither Marvel movie producers nor actors disapprove or deny this kind of a support from the military, thus, indirectly agreeing with the former head of the Office of War Elmer Davis who said: ‘The easiest way to inject a propaganda idea into most people’s minds is to let it go through the medium of an entertainment picture when they do not realize they’re being propagandized.” Under the impression of being fun time for the youth, MCU movies serve as a contribution to US propaganda just like Eastwood’s American Sniper.
White saviorism is also one of the overdone tropes in Hollywood movies. The term white savior refers to the Westerners who try to “fix” the problems of struggling nations or people of color without listening to their needs. White saviors usually think that their culture knows the best and try to speak for POC instead of giving them a platform to talk about their struggles. In American Sniper, the protagonist Kyle is the white savior who not only kills the “bad guys” but also protects the innocent Middle Eastern children who’s been abused in the hands of the terrorist group in Iraq. He’s there to “fix” Middle East and bring “civilization” to the region, even though those Middle Easterners did not ask for it. Kyle has everything an American viewer wants to see in an American movie: he is willing to sacrifice his own life for his country and is merciful towards the Middle Eastern people who they deem all as terrorists.
In Marvel movies, though, there is a different kind of white saviorism that is represented in each of them. Almost all main superheroes are white and have western ideals because it is apparently what makes them better and more noble of a leader. And if they need help physically or mentally, their sidekicks who always seem to be POC show up out of nowhere to be there for them. The audience rarely ever learns about those sidekicks backgrounds even when its hinted that they’re interesting characters. War Machine is there for Iron Man, Falcon for Captain America, Valkyrie for Thor, Wong for Dr. Strange and their sole purpose is to save the main superhero from trouble and help them with fighting villains. It is funny how the directors of most MCU movies, Russo brothers, shows that they understand the concept of white saviorism in a quote “The ‘white saviour’ is an egregious fallacy for someone from an Iraqi perspective because all white people have ever done is attack their country,” and yet, is still exclusive of people of color in their movies and does not acknowledge the problem that comes with it. After all, Hollywood is responsible for allowing movies that contain white saviorism which is thought to be “the racist brutality of colonialism” for the sake of attracting more American (and nationalist) viewers.
Another way of US propaganda is to rewrite history and mythologize the wars US has been in. The American audience has always loved seeing their soldiers punching the bad guys and winning wars ever since WW2. But it’s not only Americans that these Hollywood movies influence, they are also influencing non-Americans into believing that they came to rescue when the world needed the most. But it is not the case; without the Soviets and other allies, Hitler wouldn’t be dethroned, Vietnam was an act upon political reasons not an actual war, and Iraqi war didn’t start in response to 9/11 attacks. These claims are not only extremist but also racist and biased. In American Sniper, it’s made clear that US’ invasion on Iraq was an act of defense and that Kyle decides to join the army after watching “al-Qaeda attacks” on tv. And surprisingly, no soldier in the movie kills a civilian accidentally -which is something that happens often in US’ Middle East invasions. The movie bluntly lies to the audience about the conditions in the Middle East, US Army training and their real purpose of being in Middle East.
Meanwhile in Marvel movies, wars are shown as something entertaining and easy. Villians, who are seen as foreign invaders, must be defeated by the good white American superheroes because they threaten the American people and the government. Yes, there are civilians who get killed during action but the way those films display it is that they’re people who had to be sacrificed for the greater good. Captain America, exclusively, is the creation of US Army designated to kill Nazis and look good while doing it because he’s the face of America. These are all serve as metaphors for US propaganda as it signals to that whoever gets in the way of American people, will have to face its consequences. These narratives are dangerous as it might encourage the audience into taking an action in real life against immigrants anyone who is considered to be non-American due to their race or cultural background.
Propaganda is not always clear as day like it is in American Sniper, it is sometimes “a man in tights flying through the sky, fighting off criminals and intergalactic aliens.” When Hollywood fails to produce unbiased movies that glorify US military, white saviorism and mythologizes the war US was in, it is both American and non-Americans’ responsibility to reject these narratives and seek justice for those who have been discriminated against because of this harmful propaganda. Filmmakers should try to “tell American stories in American settings within American frames of reference” (Coen) without hurting minorities and struggling countries’ people.
