Ralph Donald is professor emeritus of mass communications at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, where he taught broadcasting, journalism, and film for 40 years. With his wife, Karen MacDonald, he is the coauthor of Reel Men at War: Masculinity and the American War Film (Scarecrow Press, 2011) and Women in War Films: From Helpless Heroine to G.I. Jane (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014).
Donald (Women in War Films), a mass communications professor
emeritus at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, returns to
a subject he knows well: war films. This study examines propaganda
within Hollywood fiction feature films produced during and related
to American involvement in WWII. This specific focus omits
documentaries, newsreels, and cartoons. After an opening chapter
discussing the relationship between the American government and the
film industry, Donald breaks down five 'appeals,' categories of
Hollywood propaganda. These include the 'guilt appeal,' which
stressed that the enemy was the aggressor and dragged our peaceful
nation into war; the 'Satanism appeal,' wherein the enemy is
defined through negative, dehumanizing characteristics; the
'illusion of victory appeal,' which assures that our victory is
predetermined; the 'apocalyptic/Biblical appeals,' the former being
a direct invocation of the Biblical books of Revelations and
Daniel, and the latter a more general 'God is on our side' message;
and the 'territorial appeal,' meant to convince the public that the
country itself is at risk.... [This book has] ... some intriguing
ideas.
*Publishers Weekly*
In the late 1930s, Congress, much of the American public, and
Hollywood (with the exception of Warner Bros. studio) remained
skeptical of foreign entanglements, instead favoring an
isolationist 'America first' policy. After Pearl Harbor, encouraged
by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to persuade and entertain the
American public, studios churned out hundreds of wartime propaganda
films. This 'critical chronicle' shows how Hollywood’s often crude
but effective feature films defined the bad guys, called to defend
the homeland, and claimed God’s support and the inevitability of an
Allied victory. The military provided advice, equipment, and
officer commissions to many studio bosses. An unsavory aspect of
these films was the flagrant racial and ethnic stereotyping—Germans
were unfeeling, the Japanese were almost subhuman. (However, Nazi
Germany led the way with films that scorned Jews.) Donald
categorizes these films by propaganda techniques and concludes that
the wartime mind-set continues to influence America’s worldview.
VERDICT .... [S]olidly researched[.]
*Library Journal*
Propaganda by definition is the use of mass media to call an
audience to action. Although it has an evil connotation, it's also
been used to educate and motivate target groups about important
causes. Between 1941 and 1945, Hollywood produced hundreds of films
intended to unify the country for the war effort. In addition to
feature films, movie studios turned out training footage,
newsreels, and fundraisers. Focusing on the feature films, Donald
uses the five appeals of propaganda (guild, satanism, illusion of
victory, biblical, territorial) to analyze and categorize more than
50 of these movies. The author lists the tenets for each appeal and
then uses examples from these movies. The author lists the tenets
for each appeal and then uses examples from these movies as
illustrations. For example, Donald uses the plot and dialogue from
Casablanca to demonstrate how guilt motivates Humphrey Bogart's
character, Rick Blaine. Movie buffs will love the detailed
references, but others may be more inclined to sample the entries.
Of particular interest is the annotated list of analyzed films,
which includes plot summaries, film information, and propaganda
appeals. This is a handy volume for film collections.
*Booklist*
Ask a Question About this Product More... |