The more the movie went into depth, the more stronger the similarities and differences presented themselves. As the stories of these heroes unraveled, comparing and contrasting the psyche, the brutality ,the moral and ethical conflicts in great war movies such as the “Lone Survivor”(Berg.2014), and “Apocalypse Now”(Coppola.1979), was not as hard as imagined. The psyche of a man in war is really captured in both these movies. Of the two movies,”Apocalypse now”() really captures a stronger sense of what war can do to a soldier’s mental status, one example of a deteering mind is Colonel Kurtz. This man reputation was one of the greatest to ever represent his country, he was the 4.0 kid who never did anything wrong and was on pace to be up at the very top of the ranks the military can offer.
What had been unleashed in 1917 was a revolutionary wave corresponding with the rise of socialism, trade unionism and Marxism in otherwise “successful” capitalist societies. The ensuing chaos in many of these countries during their attempt to establish a new form of government appeared to be enough to convince many Americans that alien radicals (particularly Communists and Fascists) should be identified, arrested and deported. They feared they could potentially pose a threat to the “American” way of life and freedom. During this period in California, many of the larger studios were being built up by former refugees from Fascism (Paramount, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, Warner Bros). They tended to steer clear of politics and concentrate on entertainment.
Using a wide variety of media, that included music, silent films, and radio, propagandists implied hatred for the enemy and support for America's allies. Greater public effort for war production by persuading people to make do with what they had so that more material could be used for the war effort was also
Since the propaganda became a no brainer to many Americans, Citizens immediately began to apply in the army. This event lead to a drastic turn in the war, as the Allied powers were losing the war. The U.S. began to win battles, the Allied powers began to gain the upper hand on Axis powers. After years of war, the U.S. finally avenged Japan by dropping the first atomic bomb in Hiroshima, Japan. Then dropping the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan, leading to Japan's
This propaganda continued even once they had won the election. Furthermore, once the Nazi’s had gained power, they began to push anti-Jew and other very racist and fascist propaganda on the people of Germany. Hitler was shown in newspapers and presented on the radio as a strong and just leader; with the Jews being represented as evil. Propaganda was therefore crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as it meant when they began their attack on the Jews, they had the support of their people. Furthermore, it can be argued that propaganda was crucial to the maintenance of power by the Nazis as they portrayed Hitler as powerful and showed him to be good for the country, making sure people continued to show support for the Nazis and it portrayed Hitler as above all party politicking and as a figure for national focus and loyalty.
This links into the title point that Mussolini had a wide support base and that it was growing. This aslo links to andother factor of his appointment, Mussolinis tactics, he used the dual stratagy, which is the threat of violence but staying within the political system. The nationalists, who wanted a stronger Italy, would have been used as a threat of violence and rebellion. Another factor from the war was the demobalistaion of 5 million troop, this created high unemployment, both were seeking jobs and recognition for their part in the war. The troops would have felt let down as well, so therefore wanted reform and supported Mussolinis violence tactic.
The Americans had grown to a similar willingness as the battles progress. What could possibly cause this willingness to die before surrender? The Japanese soldiers had been given a propaganda pamphlet called Read this and The War is Won, which was written in a way that was meant to instill a hatred for Americans and Western society. Similarly the Americans were showed a series of films, one of which is titled Know your Enemy- Japan. The film shown to the Americans is also meant to instill hatred for the Japanese, and to fan the fire that was sparked when they Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.
No longer can a government wage a war with disregard of the consequences, through the avenue of film the public are able to make their own voices and perceptions heard and broadcast to the masses. As with war itself, time and technology has played its part in the advancement of this medium as public perception has changed over the years, and the imagery has needed to become more graphic and poignant to portray the same messages as before. I have chosen to use two movies of completely different design and from two separate conflicts and times that I believe showed, in their own
Charles Yale Harrison’s novel Generals Die in Bed strips away the misconception that war and is glorious and in doing so strongly conveys to the reader the horrible reality that was the First World War Harrison emphasises the harshness of this reality through the constant bombardment of gruesome and desensitising events experienced by the Narrator. The dramatic degree of different between the fictional views held by the public and the truth is highlighted by the contrast of the soldier’s experiences and society’s false impressions. Furthermore the novel shows war for what it truly is, a dominant force with the power to consume, transform and scar all that stands in it’s way. Through GDIB the reader is given a raw and truthful depiction of the
Reading this you can see how entering the war was more than just a peace keeping mission as expressed by Wilson in his message to Congress. Although these two pieces differ in the reasoning for America's intervention, they both express the intensity of the situation. Germany was on a rampage, killing anyone who tried to trade with their enemies. Something needed to be done and America was the country that had to do it. These two pieces both have great value with the message to Congress having the most.