According to a 2011 study from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the United States’ military budget exceeded the defense spending of the next 11 countries on the list combined. Most of this budget strengthened the military’s weaponry and coercive power internationally; however, a portion helped shape domestic public opinion. One factor shaping public opinion is the military’s portrayal within popular culture, specifically within mainstream Hollywood films and video games.
How do popular depictions of the U.S. military relate to the Department of Defense’s recruitment techniques?
This study, conducted under the mentorship of Dr. Elizabeth Patton in the Media and Communication Studies Department at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), demonstrates how anti-Vietnam war films morphed into blockbuster Hollywood movies and video games, which consequently glorified the U.S. military and male veterans. This study analyzed the symbiotic connection between the shift in the portrayal of the military within popular culture since the late 1960s and how the military benefitted from this.
The Department of Defense capitalized on these consistently shifting, ultra-masculine representations while the ideal forms of masculinity changed through decades to co-opt the recent economic and educational emphasis on technology. This capitalization by the military is seen through their official America’s Army video game, their recruitment advertisements/promotional materials for the video game and for the Army in general, and the indirect and/or direct funding of certain films and film franchises like Top Gun (1986), Black Hawk Down (2001), and the Transformers series (2007-present). These forms of “militainment” within the military-entertainment complex contribute to the jingoistic, ultra-nationalistic fervor within this country that leads to more division, ideals of toxic masculinity, social instability, and fear of “the other.”
About the presenterGeeta Shanbhag
Geeta is a graduate student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in the Applied Sociology department with a Certificate in the NonProfit Sector. Her interests in both research, academic, and professional life has consistently run through intersections; mostly at the cross-roads of public policy, legal matters, advocacy efforts, and strategic communications. Her goal is to eventually work at a legal nonprofit organization working along these pathways.