Ideology in Film: the 1980s

So I recently decided to watch the old Superman movies again and got through two of them when I realized just how American they are. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing. It's just very evident.

Throughout the 80s, Hollywood films were made to promote the popular American ideology. This ideology was that America is the most powerful nation in the world and should anyone challenge their power, the Americans would annihilate them. Don't believe me? Check out Rambo: First Blood Part 2. Is that movie not about Rambo going into Vietnam and then single-handedly destroying it? To top that off, Rambo is portrayed as an indestructible and muscular man. He is a symbol of America's invincibility and his image promotes the ideology that America is above all and should police the world. The film supports the belief that the bureaucrats lost the Vietnam War and that for one man to go in and kill hundreds of people by blowing up their villages to save a dozen American POWs is unproblematic. It's not unproblematic. But I guess since it's America, it's okay.

But back to the Superman movies. Here's what really triggered this train of thought:

Taken from Superman II

"I hereby advocate all authority and control over this planet to general Zod" Who gives the President of the United States the right to hand over all authority and control over the planet? You could argue that he "consulted" with the other leaders of the world but since when is America a spokesperson for the planet? I have a feeling that that wouldn't go over well in real life with the other superpowers on this planet.

Here's another Superman clip, this one from Superman 1:



Anyone who doesn't believe in the American way, watch out because Superman's coming to get you!

One more film that I wanted to make mention of is Rocky IV, you know, the one where Rocky single-handedly defeats communism? That film is basically the cold war re-enacted in the boxing ring.This video, the intro to the film pretty much sums it up:

Last video in this entry, promise!

If you watch that video closely, right before the gloves collide, you see the Russian one fall first, foreshadowing the end of the film.

The ideologies behind these films are in no way bad. Some of them are a bit of an ego boost for the country but for the most part I see patriotism. Especially in Rocky/Rambo. The protagonists were very patriotic and the film showed American audiences at the time what they wanted to see and what they believed.

I believe that there are still ideologies like this found in film today, however it is much more subtle and harder to identify. And don't get me wrong, I love all of the movies that I mentioned in this post, I just feel like some of the words spoken and actions taken wouldn't fly today.

Until next time!