Propaganda is most impactful when people don't think it's propaganda, and most decisive when it's censorship you never knew happened. When we imagine that the U.S. military only occasionally and slightly influences U.S. movies, we are extremely badly deceived.
Consider the typical audience for blockbuster Hollywood action movies featuring America-Fuck-Yeah! teams using good old American military tech to defeat the bad guys. It may be obvious to you and us that these movies feature a heavy amount of pro-military and pro-US propaganda. But the average viewer probably just wants to shut off half their brain, see big explosions, and watch other heart-pumping action. Do you think they’re considering the ethical implications of the military vehicles and weapons featured in these films? They just leave the movie feeling pumped up and generally happy, and to some degree they’ll associate those feelings with the US military.
That’s exactly the problem. The propaganda is so nuanced that most people just want to see an action movie, and leave with a higher feeling of trust in the US military. They’re supposed to feel happy afterwards, that means it worked
Consider the typical audience for blockbuster Hollywood action movies featuring America-Fuck-Yeah! teams using good old American military tech to defeat the bad guys. It may be obvious to you and us that these movies feature a heavy amount of pro-military and pro-US propaganda. But the average viewer probably just wants to shut off half their brain, see big explosions, and watch other heart-pumping action. Do you think they’re considering the ethical implications of the military vehicles and weapons featured in these films? They just leave the movie feeling pumped up and generally happy, and to some degree they’ll associate those feelings with the US military.
That’s exactly the problem. The propaganda is so nuanced that most people just want to see an action movie, and leave with a higher feeling of trust in the US military. They’re supposed to feel happy afterwards, that means it worked