Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Lives of Others: Vulnerability in Post-9/ 11 American Cinema
- 2 Boots on the Ground: The New Millennial Combat Film as Cultural Artefact
- 3 ‘Masters of our own Security’: Redemption through Violence in the Post-9/ 11 Action Genre
- 4 Turning to the Dark Side: Challenging American Mythology in the Superhero Genre
- 5 Remaking 9/11: Imagining the Unimaginable in the Alien- invasion Film
- 6 Decade of the Dead: Zombie Films as Allegory of National Trauma
- 7 The Rise and Fall of Empires: The ‘War on Terror’ as Allegorical Moment in Historical Film
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Select Filmography
- Index
7 - The Rise and Fall of Empires: The ‘War on Terror’ as Allegorical Moment in Historical Film
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2016
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- 1 The Lives of Others: Vulnerability in Post-9/ 11 American Cinema
- 2 Boots on the Ground: The New Millennial Combat Film as Cultural Artefact
- 3 ‘Masters of our own Security’: Redemption through Violence in the Post-9/ 11 Action Genre
- 4 Turning to the Dark Side: Challenging American Mythology in the Superhero Genre
- 5 Remaking 9/11: Imagining the Unimaginable in the Alien- invasion Film
- 6 Decade of the Dead: Zombie Films as Allegory of National Trauma
- 7 The Rise and Fall of Empires: The ‘War on Terror’ as Allegorical Moment in Historical Film
- Conclusion
- Bibliography
- Select Filmography
- Index
Summary
History is a representation of the past, not the past itself.
Robert Rosenstone, Visions of the Past: The Challenge of Film to Our Idea of HistoryWith the barbarism of the U.S intervention in Iraq in all of its aspects increasingly evident, it is more difficult than ever to maintain the illusion of the benevolent imperialism of Pax Americana. The American Empire has truly become a Pox Americana in the eyes of the world.
John Foster and Robert McChesney, ‘The American Empire: Pax Americana or Pox Americana?’People a hundred years from now should be able to grasp the enormity of this attack by visiting this sacred ground. Ground Zero is a cemetery. It is the last resting place for loved ones whose bodies were not recovered and whose remains are still within that hallowed ground. We must respect the role these events play in our history.
Rudolph Giuliani, ‘Getting it Right at Ground Zero’Throughout his administration, George W. Bush, like many Presidents before him, made a concerted effort to link his policies to decisive moments in American history: justifying his decisions, be it to go to war in Iraq or to institute the USA Patriot Act, by connecting them to historical precedents. In doing so, Bush proceeded to appropriate American history, reshaping and remodelling it to suit the ideological perspective of his administration. Bush stated,
These values must be imparted to each new generation. Our children need to know that our Nation is a force for good in the world, extending hope and freedom to others. By learning about America's history, achievements, ideas, and heroes, our young citizens will come to understand even more why freedom is worth protecting. (Bush 2003b)
This selective adoption of history is what Herbert Butterfield called ‘present-minded history’ (1950: v), that is, to selectively appropriate elements of the past to validate contemporary political decisions. The logical culmination of this process was the contention that anyone who disagreed with Bush must, therefore, be unpatriotic because they were disputing not only the policies of the current administration, but precedents set by the likes of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln or Ronald Reagan that he evoked.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The 'War on Terror' and American Film9/11 Frames Per Second, pp. 175 - 198Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2014