American's Views About War

by Torr, James D.

• ISBN13: 9780737707540
• ISBN10: 0737707542
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-09-01
• Publisher: Greenhaven Pr

Summary

Discusses American's attitudes toward war throughout the twentieth century and how they have influenced politics and society.

Table of Contents

Foreword	10	(13)
Introduction	13	(9)
Prologue: Americans Discover the Horrors of Modern Warfare
A Brief History of America's View of War	22	(8)
Michael S. Sherry
Americans have long celebrated the Revolutionary War, which gave birth to the United States, but they also remember the Civil War, which threatened to tear the nation apart
However, neither of these conflicts could prepare the nation for World War I and the emergence of the more impersonal, mechanized methods of modern war
Pacifism in Popular Culture: Antiwar Films After World War I	30	(9)
Thomas Doherty
World War I introduced the horrors of trench warfare, and by the time the conflict was over many Americans viewed war itself, rather than imperialist Germany, as the enemy
Hollywood films after the war, such as All Quiet on the Western Front, reflected this pacifist sentiment
World War II: American Culture Embraces the Allied War Effort
Hollywood's Contributions to the War Effort	39	(10)
Allen L. Woll
In the late 1930s, with the threat of another world war looming, Hollywood abandoned its pacifist leanings and began advocating U.S. entry into World War II
After the Japanese bombed Peral Harbor in 1941, Hollywood contributed to the war effort by producing films that bordered on propaganda
``Us vs. Them'' in World War II Films	49	(6)
Ralph Willett
The Nazis were routinely vilified in films made during World War II, and the Japanese were often portrayed as subhuman
American troops, on the other hand, were often depicted as having a wide array of racial and ethnic backgrounds, in an effort to emphasize national unity
Popular Culture Mobilizes for the War Effort	55	(9)
Michael Renov
All aspects of American popular culture---music, books, magazines, newspapers, radio, and even the advertising industry---were touched by the war and the rapid changes it brought about
Popular music and literature incorporated military themes
Patriotism in World War II Comic Books	64	(10)
William W. Savage Jr.
The birth of the superhero comic book came only a few years before the start of World War II, and when the war began, the focus of these comics quickly shifted from crime-fighting to combat
These comics helped keep up morale among soldiers abroad and interested audiences at home
The Beginning of the Cold War: The Red Menace and the Nuclear Threat
Hollywood and the Cold War	74	(12)
Joyce A. Evans
As World War II ended and the Cold War began, fear of communist infiltration swept America
In 1947 the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) began investigating Hollywood for signs of communist influence, and in response, the major film studios released a series of anticommunist films to restore their image
Americans' Views of Nuclear War	86	(9)
Toni A. Perrine
Americans have vacillated in their views toward nuclear weapons ever since the atomic bomb was first developed in the 1940s
In general, Americans have been uneasy with their nation's vast nuclear arsenal, and this tension is apparent in popular films from the 1950s to the 1990s
The Vietnam War: U.S. Ambivalence Is Reflected in Popular Culture
An Overview of Vietnam Films	95	(9)
Rob Edelman
The war in Vietnam was America's longest, most controversial war and only military defeat, and films about the conflict reflect the multitude of shifting views Americans have held toward it
Vietnam Protest Songs of the 1960s and 1970s	104	(6)
H. Ben Auslander
In the 1960s popular music became a political weapon in the hands of the peace movement, with antiwar songs such as ``I Ain't Marchin' Anymore'' and ``Eve of Destruction.''
The First ``Living Room War'': Vietnam on Television	110	(6)
Daniel C. Hallin
The Vietnam War was the first war to be heavily covered by television news reporters
TV audiences were exposed to images of the violence and suffering of the war, and since the war's end historians have debated how television affected popular opinion of the war
MASH: The Korean War as a Setting for Vietnam Satire	116	(10)
Rick Worland
The TV series MASH ran from 1972 to 1983 and was one of the most popular shows in the history of television
Though set during the Korean War, MASH's success was largely due to its ability to capture the nation's antiwar mood in the wake of Vietnam
America Since Vietnam: War Makes a Comeback
Star Wars and America's Response to Vietnam	126	(6)
Tom Engelhardt
In 1977, given the apparent war-weary mood of the nation in the wake of Vietnam, it is surprising that even a fantasy film about war could be as popular as George Lucas's Star Wars proved to be
The success of Star Wars suggests that Americans were not tired of war as much as they were tired of Vietnam
Rambo and the New Patriotism in 1980s Action Films	132	(9)
Terry Christensen
In the 1980s, as the nation coped with its disastrous experience in Vietnam, popular movies such as Rambo offered America visions of a revitalized military, in which U.S. soldiers, in the words of President Ronald Reagan, were ``standing tall.''
Warrior Dreams: Paramilitary Culture in Post-Vietnam America	141	(12)
James William Gibson
Since the 1980s, military-style combat has been increasingly celebrated in American culture
The popularity of action-adventure movies, military thriller novels, warrior magazines such as Soldier of Fortune, and the ``hobby'' of paintball all point to a new national obsession with all things paramilitary
Epilogue: Debating Portrayals of War in Popular Culture: Two Interpretations of Saving Private Ryan
Saving Private Ryan Is a Pro-War Film	153	(5)
Howard Zinn
Critics say that Steven Spielberg's 1998 film Saving Private Ryan reminds today's generation of the enormous sacrifices made by the soldiers who fought World War II
But the film also sends the message that World War II was a ``good'' war; this message is at odds with the antiwar films of the past, which questioned the morality of war itself
Saving Private Ryan Is an Antiwar Film	158	(8)
Christopher Caldwell
Saving Private Ryan deals with how a whole company of soldiers dies while trying to save one man, the Private Ryan of the title
The film implies that the Private Ryan is not worth the sacrifice of so many others---and by analogy, that World War II itself was not worth its enormous cost
For Further Research	166	(4)
Index	170