Military Propaganda Essay

Propaganda is biased information used to promote a certain organization or political view/cause. It's usually spread through films, posters, the radio or verbally communicated to people face to face. Propaganda plays a huge role in today's society even if we sometimes don’t notice it. Hollywood itself is one of the main factors in propaganda, specifically its great influence when it comes to military propaganda. Most action movies made by Hollywood includes military appearances. More than 800 films that came from Hollywood are heavily supportive of the military and work as a way of recruitment through their films. These films that heavily support the military usually point out that the U.S military are the “good guys” and the opposing military

A great example of a film from hollywood that was made to encourage people to enlist and was used as a sort of propaganda is “Top Gun” which was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Don Simpson. This film goes into great depth of propaganda, and it ultimately benefits both the film and the military.

For starters the film “Top Gun” was released and shown in theaters in 1986 for the sole purpose of entertainment and persuasion. The film attracted a lot of people due to the famous actor Tom Cruise who starred in it. The film not only attracted fans of the star, but it also attracted people who had interest in joining the air force and fans of aviator flying. The article “The long, long, twisty affair between the US military and Hollywood” by Alissa Wilkinson breaks down the strong influence the film had on people and the military and the propaganda that took place in the film which led to an increase in military recruitment. In the article the author mentions how

When the commander is talking to the group of men about what Top Gun consists of, one of the men mentions that the talk gives him a “hard on”. This scene provides a sense of excitement that is coming from the men when it comes to talking about jets, dogfighting and kill ratios. This scene can also give a false impression to young men because this sort of reaction towards killing others may have been way different than their reaction before watching the film. In the film there are many scenes when the men aren’t just on duty but they’re out having fun doing what they want at night with no care. An article mentions how “The pilots continually meet up at bars and drink, sing, and pick up girls, displaying a fast-paced and fun lifestyle.” (Hanuska, 2020). The film purposely targets young men who think that life goes on without consequences and “manly men” to join and enjoy their life. The narrative behind these scenes is to show that only men in the military are fun and good men and that the rest aren't manly enough. The film perceives that if you’re not willing to live a fast paced life and show that you’re a manly man then you are not good enough for the military. Most young men think that they’re immortal and should live consequence free the same way Maverick is portrayed and they relate to the main character in that way. Having Maverick as a main character with this personality