American Identity - American Savior

American Identity - American Savior

American

Amid ethnic diversity, the rise of mass entertainment, world wars, and the global spread of American culture, known to be "globalization as Americanization", Hollywood besides other cultural institutions did its best to insure, first of all, its own survival and profitability in the box office campaign and then, to provide a coherent, though flexible, American identity. This coherence was to be developed between different aspects of what is to be known as an American character with a specific American identity. Family life, for instance, is one of the dimensions of an American characteristic, which is stressed upon and represented through out the history of Hollywood production; if one can remember such blockbusters as "it's a wonderful life" , "you can't take it with you", "gone with the wind" or even in such so-called romantic movies like "Titanic" , "Shrek1", the skeleton founded upon is a family structure.

This family identity, far from being what it was, looked forward to what it should be, as old "platonics" would teach. Another major and prevalent theme, like the family ideal, would spin around the idea of war, specifically American war. There are cultural products, namely films that are produced voluntarily or even regulatorily in order to shape a war character gradually, an American war character. This concept, the American hero, is a warrior whose peculiarities are very much the same as the specificities of the middle age knights, once upon a time adorned in Europe. The historical roots and descriptions of this Knight look even further into such famous epics as "Morte Arthur " (by sir Thomas Malory 1470), whose behavior is marked with unlimited amount of valor, a great love and caring towards ladies, a firm attachment to the ideals that he believes to be true and humane, and at the end up-to-death servitude to his own homeland and king. This lovely character has always been respected by the king, by princesses and ladies, by every day people and men of literature (specially the courtiers).

American history is, of course, full of diversity in terms of economics, politics and sociological issues. That would make distinction between specific periods and categorizing its history a very challenging task. However, there are some highlights which would attract attentions to, when American chronology is looked in a schematic way; and they are sporadic but consecutive wars in which America was involved. These wars, regardless of being fare or unjust, were creating a rising series of demands and expectations among the American politicians as well as the attendants of those wars. Politicians gradually felt that they needed to have not only the cause of history work in a justifying manner but also in a much admiring form. This sweet judgment of history about American wars (or some selected and then propagated wars), if achieved would solve many of their (political, hawkish, elite) problems in terms of past, present and even future. By that I mean, if the old wars were represented as just and necessary, at least recruiting more soldiers and entering into new wars which may not be necessary but so in the eyes of some economic and political elites. Thus came the idea of creating a war identity for every individual American who would then look into it, if needed, to decide which side he/she should take. In this respect, American film industry played a prolific role.

What one can observe from watching Hollywood movies made on the topic of war or have at least some allusions to the wars, after the birth of movie industry, are symbols and individuals that are used and developed to shape what one can call "the American knight". Characteristics of the American knight are the same as the old courtly knight of the middle age Europe. He is extraordinarily brave, although like any one an earthly character, his care for his lady and generally for all the ladies ( and even one might add for children) never ever exhaustible, and the service to the flag ( now the American flag) is never ending. As a concrete example, "Saving Private Ryan", directed by the famous Steven Spielberg, had developed the same image of a simple soldier as an American savior. This Private Ryan, is not only looked after by a great and enthusiastic group of American soldiers whose strife in fighting their way to find this only-remained son of a mother signifies the American sense of respect for every single recruited individual, but Ryan is also deep in fighting his way to save humanity and fight evil which is, of course, symbolized as German as usual (in relation with the Second World War). Such stories which do not appear rarely in the timeline of Hollywood productions are all the same in completing one of the necessary aspects of this "American identity formation" puzzle.

The American identity puzzle has for sure various parts which are defined and also contribute in a process of reproduction when achieved a practical status in society. Family representations of Americans in the movies, or the war and warrior personality, are two examples that could be traced and tracked down not only in the realm of movies but also in other cultural products such as video games. Other areas of identity formation would be related to race identity formation, political identity formation and how the American politicians are represented and mirrored to the people both inside the U.S and also outside of it in the global arena.

The process of signification or symbolization of the American Knightly warrior circumscribes one other dimension, which is American savior as Christ. The above mentioned peculiarities of that certain identity -the white (and sometimes black, since needed) American war character, would highly likely be attached to the Christian definition of Jesus Christ if thought more deeply on the event. The American warrior may enter a war, but it is not because he wanted it to happen, but because he was obliged to defend, not even himself, but humanity; he/she may be killed (and in the Jesus context , be crucified ) but he is still the winner and also alive , at least in the memory of his/her own people.

Altogether, this image is well promoted in such real cases after 9/11, such as Iraq or Afghanistan. People, who would watch CNN, wouldn't get into the reality of the war because of American intentions as well as their way of intervention in achieving the goal of American democracy. The audience was often told, in some cases frankly, that images such as hostage takings which were done by some Iraqis were un-permitted to show because they would strengthen the terrorists will, thus prohibited from the majority. What was lost here: the true possible image of the soldiers' situation and also voices of those whose homeland was occupied.

The reality as evidenced in the above example , was and is often distorted in Hollywood movies, either through regulations of their own ( remember the Hays codes) or through the governmental interventions in the process of film productions. In the latter case some would argue that even secret agents such as CIA were involved in leading the main body of America film production towards creating an exceptional American identity, including a war character with specificities mentioned above. Stonor Saunders (1999), wrote a useful book named "Who paid the piper?: the CIA and the cultural Cold War" , which can be quoted as a palpable evidence for manipulating the canon formation either in the realm of literature or film industry. This intrusion into the process is just an example of clear and present dangers to American identity formation, in the sense that a certain group of elites try to create a reality (in this case a war identity for every American individual) which is not as it is but as it should be and viewed in the eyes of the common people. This is an absolute betrayal of a democratic right that Americans have which is the right to know the reality of their own past, present and future , at least in terms of the wars America attended and nowadays is the main initiator for them.

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