The War on Terror and American Popular Culture Split Reel • 05/20
Welcome to the inaugural edition of Split Reel, CHIRP’s new show on popular culture and societal attitudes.
What were the “flash points” which signified the “War on Terror” was having a concrete impact on popular culture? If the Hollywood norm over the past decade has been to showcase films that highlight the failures of American policy rather than champion it… then how does this fit within the framework of rah-rah patriotism that erupted in the wake of 9/11? And what sort of impact will the new strain of anti-government movements have in the wake of the Obama White House administration?
Host Kevin Fullam is joined by Andrew Schopp and Matthew B. Hill, co-editors of the recent book The War on Terror and American Popular Culture: September 11 and Beyond. For more information on Split Reel, visit www.kevinfullam.net.
—————————-
Hello everybody — I’ll be supplementing the podcasts with additional information, movie capsules, etc. relating to each discussion. Check back here soon for additional notes. — Kevin (who apologizes for the clunky links)
24 (2001-present) — Super counter-terrorism agent Jack Bauer foils a series of increasingly-outlandish terrorism plots, each of which are enacted and foiled within 24-hour periods. Mr. Bauer’s profile has risen to the point where the character was frequently referenced during the 2008 GOP presidential debates regarding issues of torture (and specifically waterboarding). Check out this story (http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=5898 — originally published in the Chicago Tribune) about how a group supporting the renewal of the Patriot Act placed their commercial within an episode of 24 back in 2006 — talk about product placement! There’s another article here (http://www.slate.com/id/2195864/?from=rss) in Slate about how Bauer is “the most influential legal thinker in the development of modern interrogation policy.”
V for Vendetta (2005) — Dystopian film about a masked rabble-rouser who commits acts of insurrection against a totalitarian government (one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom-fighter, of course). Original story was written as a graphic novel by noted curmudgeon Alan Moore, who was bent out of shape that the cinematic adaptation was set in jolly ol’ England and not America.
Batman Begins (2005) — Gotham City’s favorite crimefighter is first trained by mysterious Ra’s al Ghul, and then combats him when Batman learns that Ghul’s plan for societal “cleansing” involves burning Gotham down to cinders.
