They May Take Our Lives: 'Patriotic Violence' in Film and Its Influence on Public Opinion

Abstract

This thesis analyzes the effect of films with a ‘patriotically violent’ theme on the public opinion of voters in the United States. By tracing the use of film as a tool with which to inspire patriotic sentiment throughout history, I establish the methods used in both propaganda and patriotic narrative films to stir patriotic feelings within the viewer. Furthermore, I examine how such films also seek to inspire negative feelings and hostility towards another nation, particularly towards rival nations. I name these two effects “Patriotic Cinema” and “Film Violence”, and term the phenomenon of their amalgamation “Patriotic Violence”. I define these terms in detail and examine their potential effects. Furthermore, I examine the ways in which film can significantly affect viewers in a way that other art forms are not able.

Having established these factors, I analyze the case study of the 2014 film, American Sniper. The film follows the story of notorious US Navy sniper Chris Kyle, and prominently features scenes of patriotic violence. I hypothesize that audiences viewing the film are likely to have experienced increased feeling of patriotism as well as increased feelings of hostility towards the Middle Eastern combatants portrayed in the film as a direct result of the patriotic violence depicted in the film.

In order to argue this hypothesis, I cut three separate video clips from the footage of the original film. The first clip features all the scenes from the original film featuring scenes of patriotic violence, which both promote messages of shared American values and morality as well as portraying the Middle Eastern combatants as evil and immoral. The second clip features all the scenes from the original film featuring scenes of patriotic cinema, espousing shared American values and morality, but excluding any scenes exemplifying film violence or in any way presenting the Middle Eastern enemy as morally inferior to the American forces. The third and final clip excludes all scenes with any elements of patriotic violence or its two respective components of patriotic cinema and film violence. Instead, the third clip focuses on the protagonist’s struggles with PTSD as he fights to raise his family in between his many tours of duty, and his interactions with wounded veterans from the conflict.

I argue that the clip containing patriotic violence will evoke significantly increased patriotic feelings and a more negative view of Middle Eastern countries.

In the interest of fair analysis, all three clips of American Sniper were cut to be exactly 60 minutes in duration. Due to copyright law, these clips cannot be publicly shared in their entirety. In their place, I have selected three clips from the film, each of which exemplifies one of the three conditions, which may be viewed here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/2fdjq5e60flj2s5/American%20Sniper_Patriotic%20Violence.mov?dl=0

I encourage the reader to view these clips before they read the American Sniper case study, in order to fully understand the differences among the conditions. I also hope readers will use the clips to gauge to what extent they share my hypothesis.