Browse Exhibits (3 total)
Film and Propaganda
Film and Propaganda had a major effect during the Vietnam War. It was in every ones daily lives in forms of magazines, posters, commercials, and other forms of media. Propaganda is used to promote a point of view or political stance but can sometimes can be misleading. Interpreting propaganda can be a dangerous thing because it isn’t always truthful and can sway the viewer into a bias point of view. The propaganda that influenced the Vietnam War the most were in forms of movies, magazine articles and posters.
Victory Culture in the Post World War II Era
Everything from The Lone Ranger television show to any John Ford Western, a vital myth arose from the ashes of World War II, victory culture. Victory culture infiltrated every part of American culture and indoctrinated Americans with the treasured belief that triumph over inferior enemy was an American birthright and point of pride and destiny. Victory culture focuses on the time between the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor until the fail of Saigon in 1975. As defined by writer Tom Englehardt’s book The End of Victory Culture, this culture portrayed Euro-Americans as the minority fighting swarms of savages. Therefore, the slaughter and colonization of Native Americans was seen as “a form of reassurance and entertainment: and audiences almost invariably cheered, or were cheered; by what they read, heard or saw”.
For victory culture, the Japanese sneak attack at Pearl Harbor was no different than the menacing Indians attacking a stagecoach. Victory culture made Westerns the most popular film and television genre. The Lone Ranger which aired from 1949 to 1957 produced protrayed Native Americans as a codependent and pronoun challenged sidekick. John Ford, a Hollywood directoral powerhouse, protrayed Native peoples as motivated purely by menance. Each charachture of Native peoples reinforced the idea that Euro-Americans were righteous of "winning the West."
Victory culture invaded every chasm of popular culture post World War II. This website will showcase how victory culture was an intergral part of how society intereputed Native peoples, women, race and nationalistic attitudes.
American Film and Propaganda in World War II
Throughout the course of history we have seen various forms of propaganda to try and push a, typically political, agenda to a mass amount of people. In this paper we will explore the many forms used by The United States throughout the course of World War II. The Americans used many forms of media at hand whether it was film, posters, comic books, and more. From the iconic Rosie the Riveter to Uncle Sam, even today we still recognize and honor propaganda from decades before us. Though many of these forms of propaganda spawned immense patriotism and nationalism throughout the country, they also sparked more racism and stereotyping that would spread like wildfire across the country. Despite all of this, the propaganda machine played a major role in winning the war for us at home as well as the war abroad.