Casablanca Interventionism

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While many people may have thought that this film was just a beautiful love story between Rick and Ilsa, most did not know that its true meaning was much more significant than that. This was an early war film released in 1942 when citizens all over Europe were fleeing from the Nazis. At this time, most Americans were not too excited about the idea of entering the war to help the fight against the Nazis. Hollywood noticed this and they ended up making Casablanca, which was a pro-interventionist film to try and get Americans to support the war. Throughout this paper I will explain how Casablanca was a pro-interventionist film and how its main character, American nightclub owner Rick, changed his ways. I will also explain if I felt that the film…show more content…
They are successful in doing this by having Rick say numerous times, “I stick my neck out for nobody.” More evidence of Rick being a selfish man is showed when Rick is told about Victor Laszlo, a resistance leader who has escaped from a German concentration camp and has come to Casablanca to try to get to America. Rick explains that he has no particular "sympathy for the fox" and understands "the point of view of the hound too." Rick also tells the new Nazi commander, Major Strasser, “Your business is politics. Mine is running a saloon." This shows that Rick really does not care about any of the politics happening and he just wants to go about his own business. The attitude Rick expresses at the beginning of the film is the same attitude most Americans had in regards to the war. It seems that Rick has allowed himself to become cynical because he feels that his earlier engagement with Ilsa, fighting against fascism in Spain, was a fool's game. He feels used and bitter, and he is convinced that he has been betrayed when he really was not. Although Rick starts out as a very selfish man who could care less about the politics going on in the world around him, he gradually changes throughout the film to become the unselfish man we see at the end of…show more content…
As I stated earlier, the purpose of this film was to get Americans to support the war. I believe that the audience of this film was Americans who were not exactly sure if they agreed with America being involved in the war. In my opinion, this film was successful in helping Americans change their views on the war. I think that Americans saw how Rick was able to change from a selfish, cynical man who did not care about the politics happening around him, to a pro-interventionist who did his best to help the fight against the Nazis by letting Ilsa leave with Victor. Before this film I am sure that many Americans were like Rick and did not care much for politics or war, but after, I believe many changed their views and felt they needed to stand united and support the fight against the Nazis. The change that the audience was able to see in Rick throughout the film symbolized how Americans needed to change their own views and stand united to support the
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