Propaganda Usage In American Movies During The Cold War

Film was also used as a tool for the media to influence and control the public opinion. During the Cold War, both the West and the East produced films that aimed to address different aspects of the superpower conflict and desired to to influence domestic and foreign opinion. Americans aspired that cinema would help close the gap created by the Soviet Union being further ahead in the development of nuclear weapons and the space race technology than the United States. A common theme Hollywood dealt with throughout the Cold War era was American paranoia. Storylines, often times, revolved around the concept that anyone--your husband, wife, son, daughter, ect.-- could turn into a Communist. For instance, in the movie Conspirator (19490, Elizabeth

Exportation of American films was appealing to foreign audiences because of their easily recognizable imagery and suggestive color palettes; movie plots would circulate themes that were important to both American and foreign audiences such as family and trust which made the propaganda usage in these movies become less detectable. Espionage was a common theme in bothe the Soviet Union and America as well. Cold War hysteria leaked into all genres. For instance, in the science fiction genre, in movies such as Red Planet Mars, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and The Blob. All of these movies contained aliens who were dark forces intent on taking over the world by stealth--a clear metaphor for the attitudes towards communism. The Cold War affected film other than just as a means of propaganda. In Hollywood, the HUAC forced hundreds of people working in the movie industry to renounce all left-wing political views and testify against one another. More than five-hundred people lost their jobs. Many of these “blacklisted” movie industry workers were not able to work for more than a

During the 1950’s, television emerged as the most potent mass medium since the invention of the printing press. Throughout the Cold War era, America was tormented with fear and anxiety about the prospects of war and nuclear threat, and television mirrored this paranoia. Networks would mainly find patronage from the State, more explicitly the Defense department. In addition, television networks were turned over to the American State’s propaganda. As a result, American television content would oftentimes focus on the West’s stance on the Soviet Union. The media also took on an allegiance of sorts towards government policy and the politicisation of its content during the Cold War. This is obvious with early Cold War television and radio reports often being scripted and occasionally being produced by the Defense department. For the first time, American families had access to a propaganda medium in their homes. Americans would watch mini documentaries on what to do in the event of a nuclear attack, how to identify an American Communist, newscasts about the political positions of their country, and coverage on wars Americans were fighting overseas i.e. Vietnam. Documentaries also exploited the idea of what is was to be a genuine patriotic American citizen. When governments eventually started to produce less content to boost capitalism and started to depend on television and radio studios to