Event Title
Analysis of the Glorification of Warfare in American Media
Location
Diamond 223
Start Date
30-4-2015 2:00 PM
End Date
30-4-2015 2:25 PM
Project Type
Presentation
Description
Everywhere we go these days, we find it impossible to avoid the constant stream of militarized images and media that permeates our everyday life. On television, we see heroic depictions of American soldiers waging war with Americas enemies, both past and present. In video games, we even control the actions of these glorified soldier super-heroes. Even our sports and newscasts are constantly depicting images of soldiers, or comparing certain content to war. American media has fetishized and glorified soldiers and warfare. The images and media stream we have indulged in has led to this. We have, essentially and successfully, turned the horrors of war into entertainment, the likes of which has surged to the top of our ratings and box office rankings. But why? And how? What is it about our culture that drives us to consume such violent media and call it entertainment, and what is the result of this? Through literature review and moderate ethnographic research, I explore the reasoning behind why this phenomenon has occurred.
Faculty Sponsor
Winifred Tate
Sponsoring Department
Colby College. Anthropology Dept.
CLAS Field of Study
Social Sciences
Event Website
http://www.colby.edu/clas
ID
1702
Analysis of the Glorification of Warfare in American Media
Diamond 223
Everywhere we go these days, we find it impossible to avoid the constant stream of militarized images and media that permeates our everyday life. On television, we see heroic depictions of American soldiers waging war with Americas enemies, both past and present. In video games, we even control the actions of these glorified soldier super-heroes. Even our sports and newscasts are constantly depicting images of soldiers, or comparing certain content to war. American media has fetishized and glorified soldiers and warfare. The images and media stream we have indulged in has led to this. We have, essentially and successfully, turned the horrors of war into entertainment, the likes of which has surged to the top of our ratings and box office rankings. But why? And how? What is it about our culture that drives us to consume such violent media and call it entertainment, and what is the result of this? Through literature review and moderate ethnographic research, I explore the reasoning behind why this phenomenon has occurred.
https://digitalcommons.colby.edu/clas/2015/program/223