10/10 Leader

Article: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-33152315

Summaries:

Media/Society pages 166-170

Ideological analysists tend to focus on a specific time period and genre of media so that their findings will not be affected by differences in the way the stories between genres are told.  These analysists tend to focus on two of the most popular genres in the 1980’s and early 90’s: action-adventure and military/war films.  Each film has a similar plot line where the white male becomes the hero after defeating the violent foreigner.  This promotes power of the white male and enhances the idea that non-whites are violent and deserve to be overtaken.  Similarly, military/war films portray Americans as the victors and are often a means of reinforcing masculinity.  The Pentagon often assists in the production of these types of films as a way for them to recruit members to the military.

 

Zero Dark Thirty

This film was produced in 2012 and outlines the process of Osama Bin Laden’s death after the long hunt.  Bin Laden was not easy to find because he had been hiding out, so the film works to explain how the intelligent participants were able to find and eliminate him.  This took a lot of effort and planning.  Some of the best military officials were sent on the manhunt after Bin Laden’s continuous involvement in terrorist activities, including 9/11.  The Pentagon assisted in the production of this film, which may have contributed to the positive light shed on the military throughout the movie.

Zero Dark Thirty starts off with some audio from the events on 9/11.  It continues by showing the torturous interrogation by C.I.A. agents of Khalid Sheik Mohammed’s nephew, who was tied to the terrorist activities and is hiding information that would be helpful in locating Bin Laden or preventing future terror attacks.  The torturous interrogations continued in order to find Abu Ahmed, a courier for Bin Laden, who K.S.M.’s nephew suggested as a lead.  These leads eventually led to the raid of Bin Laden’s hideout, where he was then murdered by Seal Team Six.

“Zero Conscience in “Zero Dark Thirty”’

This article brings up the morality of Zero Dark Thirty.  If every life is valuable, how is it moral to create entertainment out of the death of someone?  Torture of those involved in the process is also thought to have taken place, which is brought about by the interrogation of C.I.A. detainees.  Officials, however, claim that this was not the case, furthering the concept of the leads to Bin Laden simply rising from the intelligence of the team.  The screenwriter, Mark Boal, argued that the film does not show a process of torture, but one of intelligence and is a way of showing if torture works or not.  However, the only place in the movie where the idea of torturing Bin Laden is opposed or viewed as immoral is a quick clip of Barack Obama.  Even this is brushed off, as it is on a television in the background and no one even pays attention to it.  Other small implications throughout the film suggest that torture was, in fact, used in the process of finding Bin Laden.

 

 

Born in Flames

This film was produced in 1983 and laid out a dystopian future, ten years after the socialist revolution, outlining the social structures of minorities such as gender, sexual orientation, and liberals.  It takes place in New York City, and it is quickly evident that the government is not treated these minorities as equals.  Police often abuse their power and are violent towards these minorities.  Because of this continuous inequality, many women take a stance and try to bring light to the matter through various actions of protest (i.e. women’s marches).  They understand the power of media, so they try to use this as another mechanism for spreading awareness of the issues.  They use media to publish the truth about the murder, not suicide, of Adelaide Norris by threatening the guard of CBS.  Nothing really changes, so, at the end of the movie, a group of women decide to blow up the World Trade Center in order to make a statement about the unequal way they are being treated.

“In the heat of the moment: Notes on the past, present, and future of Born in Flames”

This article outlines the historical context of the movie Born in Flames.  It suggests that the sudden decrease in wages and social organizations among minorities was due to the economic crisis New York City had been experiencing at the time.  The article explains the shift in class in the city, as wealthier people moved to the suburbs.  The poor left in the city had to do whatever they could to survive, which perpetrated this new image of the inner-city.  Lucas Hildebrand suggests that the movie was not so far off of reality at the time.  This article also suggests the reasoning behind the production of Born in Flames to be focused around the experimentation of feminism; to see how people would react to the proposition.  As it turns out, many people, including men and black women, disapproved of the film.  These women argued that black women were misrepresented throughout the film.

Furthermore, the article describes how the film strives to bring the truth of the matter to light so that it appears as a necessity to begin the transition to a more accepting and equal society.  It also displays the power of unity and reinforces the idea of hope and desire.  One of the films screenwriters, Lizzie Borden, declared Born in Flames to be ‘“science fiction” because I [she] don’t believe it will happen” (Hilderbrand 9).  The article further discusses the motives behind the explosion of the World Trade Center.  The antennas on the top were targeted, suggesting a protest against the media, along with the overall protest of gender discrimination.

 

Critical Questions:

1. There is evidence that proves an existing relationship between Hollywood filmmakers and the Pentagon. Although Pentagon officials deny the accusation, many military men and women say that these collaborations are made for recruitment reasons rather than to depict real-life military.  How would movies like Act of Valor and Zero Dark Thirty look different if the Pentagon had no say in its content?  Is the sole purpose of releasing Zero Dark Thirty to paint the officials as strong, intelligent people?  Why else would the information regarding Bin Laden’s death be released?
2. The BBC article “Have we been told the truth about Bin Laden’s death?” brings to our attention that what we know about Bin Laden’s death may not be the entire story. Do you think there is a significant aspect of his death that the government has left out?  What may their purpose be by excluding this information, and how could citizens get a better depiction of the truth?
3. The movie Born in Flames was produced in 1983 and utilizes the concept of time travel to predict how certain social controversies would play out in the future. If we were to recreate this film now to highlight these same aspects in approximately 2060, would a similar dystopian society be predicted?  What circumstances in the current society would lead to these particular predictions?
4. At the end of Born in Flames, the World Trade Center is blown up. How does this act of violence relate to similar acts of violence today that are used to bring light to a certain issue or group of people?  How does the media’s portrayal affect the way the audiences view these acts?
5. How does our prior ideology of the destruction of the World Trade Center on 9/11 shape our mindset when watching the destruction in Born in Flames? Consider demographic, the way we view minorities (Muslims, women, etc.) and the media’s influence.  If it were a white male who had destroyed the World Trade Center in either scenario, do you think we would view it differently? (Similarly to how media displays white killers as mentally ill but black killers as criminals).  Would there have been less entertainment and more sympathy if the torture in Zero Dark Thirty had been against straight, upper-class, white men?
6. The reading from out textbook highlights the similar storyline in action movies where the hero is a white male and the villain is a foreigner. Is this a form of inferential or overt racism?  How can Hollywood transition this plot line to promote a positive image of everyone, not just white men?
7. In the article “Zero Conscience in “Zero Dark Thirty,”’ the author argues the morality of the film. Is it ethical to torture people in order to locate someone that is torturous to many more people?  Is this benefit of the majority a just reason to torture these detainees?  Consider the justness of mistreating people of color (the minority) in order to benefit white people (the majority).