Propaganda in Hollywood

1. Thematic justification: The movie is based during the Second World War and precisely at the time the United States of America entered the war after a series of attacks by the Japanese on their naval installations in the Pacific region, primarily Pearl Harbor and the main theme of the movie, Wake Island, which came under attack soon after Pearl Harbor. The movie can be interpreted as a propaganda film that justifies the need for America to join the war and more importantly fight the Japanese.

2. Violence as a necessary part of patriotism: The movie shows American naval forces fearlessly engaging the Japanese forces with all their might. Though they were heavily outnumbered and their defeat at the hands of the Japanese was guaranteed, the soldiers continued to fight till their last breath to show their patriotism.

3. Ideological justification: The prominent ideological justification that was being promoted here was to avenge the Japanese attacks on the American Naval installations in Wake Island and Pearl Harbor. This was also evident in the title of the movie that had the phrase “We will never forget wake Island” attached to it. Also the movie is considers the defeat of the

4. War as a rite of passage: The movie does not contain any instances that promote “War as a rite of passage”. Though it does promote the idea like, war unifies people who are otherwise rivals and that war makes people more responsible and diligent.

5. Alienation and dehumanizing the enemy: The movie portrays the Japanese as ruthless, cold blooded killers slaughtering the outnumbered American forces on Wake Island. They also focused on the use of the Kamikaze by the Japanese which was a fighter plane used to carry out suicide missions during the Second World War. As explained above the movie promoted the need to avenge the attack on Wake Island and Pearl Harbor and the inhuman portrayal of the Japanese enemy added fuel to the fire.

6. Portrayal of hatred with the Japanese and likeness with the Chinese: The movie does say anything about the Chinese but certainly portrays the Japanese as the enemy. The last few words uttered by the weary and wounded protagonist Donlevy were “send us more Japs!” that was relayed to the headquarters in America. Such scenes are used to reinforce the idea that the Japanese are enemies in the minds of the common American citizens.

7. Oversimplified Dichotomy: Though America joined the war for various reasons other than the attack on Pearl Harbor the movie paints a different picture. According to the movie, the Japanese are the bad guys who attacked the good Americans and so the Americans who lost their lives at the hands of the ruthless Japanese have to be avenged.

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