War with a Thousand Faces: “Militainment” in American War Films
War with a Thousand Faces: “Militainment” in American War Films
Author(s): Jana RadošinskáSubject(s): Modern Age, Military policy, Victimology, Film / Cinema / Cinematography, History of Art
Published by: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoda v Trnave, Fakulta masmediálnej komunikácie
Keywords: mainstream film production; media entertainment; militainment; military propaganda; movie drama; war film;
Summary/Abstract: The paper offers a reflection on the phenomenon of “militainment” in mainstream film production. The present theoretical outlines are followed by an overview of contemporary (mostly American) war movies containing various spectacular portrayals of warfare, displays of human suffering during war conflicts and/or obvious elements of military propaganda. The text is particularly focused on topics and ideas disseminated by films portraying war events. The author works with the assumption that the term “militainment” refers to a wide spectrum of media products or events, which often merge military images and entertainment in order to engage media audiences’ attention. As much as this portmanteau expression seems to result from contemporary scholarly views on cultural imperialism and media propaganda, it is, in fact, connected to various communication phenomena dating back to the beginning of the 20th century.
Journal: Megatrendy a médiá
- Issue Year: 7/2020
- Issue No: 1
- Page Range: 94-109
- Page Count: 16
- Language: English