Martial Culture, Silver Screen: War Movies and the Construction of American Identity

Abstract

Hollywood tells us stories about ourselves and our history. Just as important, it tells us stories we pay to see. As the editors of Martial Culture, Silver Screen point out, its stories about war and about the roles the United States has played in global conflicts have had an outsized and often inaccurately positive effect on “popular metanarratives in history and trends in collective remembrance” both in the United States and abroad (p. 3). Tracing common themes through the cinematic portrayals of a given war can tell us a lot about how Americans see themselves, even—or especially—if those portrayals lack historical accuracy. The introduction and eleven essays in this volume treat “war movies” as “an archive of us imagining ourselves” (p. 17). It will come as no surprise that the archive that they describe privileges able-bodied, white, masculine soldiers as the agents and heroes of American history, and often portrays violence as a source of regeneration and redemption. However, the editors and authors are keen to uncover ways film reflects changes in national self-understanding. The volume asks, but does not definitely answer, this question: Are Americans becoming more skeptical about the value of waging war?