Hello I am sorry if this should not be posted here but I am not aware of most of the changes that happened while I was gone(accidentally lost the url in a hard drive failure). However this is movie related. What I am wondering is what movies do you guys believe has made the biggest impact on a society's views and acceptance of war? Preferably I would like the American viewpoint because that is the society I am focusing on, but I will gladly welcome anyone's viewpoints and input because any contribution will help me. In case you are wondering what I need this for is that I am working on a paper detailing the impacts of mass media on a society and I chose the impact of movies on the acceptance and views of war. I am sorry if this should not be here and am sorry for bothering any of you with my research.

Oh Lord...Are we talking about THIS war, or war in general?

It's not the movies that get people to accept war. On the contrary, they often show incredibly violent scenes of people getting blown up and ripped apart by machinegun fire.

It's the video games that make people wanna shoot stuff.

Speak for yourself... each time I watch Blackhawk Down I get the urge to jump out of planes and break ****. When I see incredibly graphic violent scenes that depict my countrymen on the receiving end of violent action I want to jump in and help and when they are on the giving end I want to jump in and help. The games... meh... but the movies. Some really pissed me off, "Casualties of War" and "Born on the 4th of July" both screwed with my head for awhile but I have cleared that up now.

Some movies like Burning Man have been argued to have lowered people's resistance to torture being used because audiences see it as acceptable in the premise of the movie. This then becomes a shared context for the population at large to then postulate on in the GWOT and the use of torture. I think there is some truth to that.

Originally Posted by C/1Lt Henderson

Oh Lord...Are we talking about THIS war, or war in general?

War in general sir.

Originally Posted by major liability

It's not the movies that get people to accept war. On the contrary, they often show incredibly violent scenes of people getting blown up and ripped apart by machinegun fire.

It's the video games that make people wanna shoot stuff.

I know that often it makes people to not want war, but it is good that we do not to fond of it. But you have to admit over this century the image of a soldier has changed. In the 1910-1917, the image of a soldier from movies is of a young Johnny going and patriotically fighting to save democracy and the what not and winning. Then you have movies like Apocalypse Now, and Blackhawk Down which show the weaknesses of soldiers and the mire they get into.

Black Hawk Down was a great movie...We Were Soldiers gave me a healthy dose of what it's like for the people left behind. When that guy got out of the car...The woman knew it was coming...That sucked.

Originally Posted by bulldogg

Speak for yourself... each time I watch Blackhawk Down I get the urge to jump out of planes and break ****. When I see incredibly graphic violent scenes that depict my countrymen on the receiving end of violent action I want to jump in and help and when they are on the giving end I want to jump in and help.

It is natural to want to help out your boys in war, but I thought the point of the thread was to determine whether seeing such violent movies would make people more favorable to the idea of war in the future.

I know when I'm playing a good game like Red Orchestra with realistic ballistics and damage (one-shot, one-kill if you use a rifle) I get the urge to go out and shoot <insert bad guy here>.

Must be different for those that have worn a uniform than for you kids.

OK, views on war from movies. Through every type of pop culture, be it a game, be it a movie, be it a book...etc. War is a necessary evil. It will always be around...