Racism In Cold War Film

919 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on world war ii propaganda

The Cold War FBI connected antiracism to communism in postwar US cinema by seeing it as a strategic measure taken by communist for marginalized people to create an uprising and to incentivise them to go against their country, which has rejected them and turn to communism. African Americans and other groups of marginalized people such as Jewish, Irish catholics, and women were some of the groups of people targeted by communist according to the Cold War FBI by using anti racist rhetoric and other tactics to recruit marginalized groups of people. Films made during the Cold War with underlying messages of inequality, American racism among many other truths, stirred up fear with the FBI and other agencies and led to trials and accusations of American …show more content…

The Red Menace (1949) promotes debunking the Communist Party's perceived goals by showing the true hypocrisy found in the party in terms of anti racism as well as by exposing Communist elitism. Robert Chester’s article, World War II in American Popular Culture, 1945-Present, describes the change in representation of fear and danger in the United States, going from anti fascism to anti communism and states, “In American culture, the Soviets replaced the Nazis and the Japanese as the most dangerous purveyors of global violence, a transition perhaps most evident in cinema” (Chester, 85). Connecting the Soviet Union and other Eastern Europeans with communism is present in many American films, where Russians and other foreigners become generic communist. The Red Menace supports this idea with two of the leading characters Yvonne Kraus and Nina Petrovka, members of the Communist party with foreign …show more content…

In The Red Menace, Mollie O’Flaherty, is an Irish-American communist member who embodies a prostitute, who helps bait and recruit men to the Communist party. She is an intellectual person but at the same time is seen as not fully understanding communism and what it stands for. Her position in society is very controversial for the movies period, and she embodies what a women should not do. Mollie denounces Catholicism and feels like she is working for a better cause for the party. Mollie states that she joined the Communist party after her father died from being exploited by her bosses, and this is meant to show a contradiction, as her body is being exploited to recruit

Show More
Related

  • Juxtaposition In Joseph Mccarthy Enemies From Within

    888 Words  | 2 Pages

    With the onset of the Cold War, a growing Red Scare would cripple American society – effectively plunging the nation into mass hysteria and unrest over the fallacious threat of communist infiltration. This reaction was precipitated by Republican senator, Joseph McCarthy, in his speech, “Enemies from Within”, delivered in Wheeling, West Virginia, on 9 February 1950. McCarthy paints communists in a particularly harsh light to generate anti-Soviet sentiment within the American public. He uses juxtaposition to engender both indignation and fear in the audience to achieve this effect.

    Read More

  • Cold War Dbq Essay

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the biggest fears of the American people is that the concept of communism contrasts drastically from the concept of capitalism, which the United States was essentially founded upon. The United States, as the public believed, was not a land of perfect communal equality, but rather a land of equal opportunity. However, what made communism so dangerous can be succinctly described by Eisenhower who compared the spread of communism as the domino effect. As his secretary of state, Dulles, put it, the propagation of communism “would constitute a threat to the sovereignty and independence” of America (Doc B). In addition, the Cold War also planted the seeds of rational fear of a global nuclear war. As Russia caught up to the United States in terms of technological advancements, they successfully developed the atomic bomb as well as the hydrogen bomb, which caused Americans to believe that the USSR would use these weapons of mass destruction to forcefully extend their ideologies to the USA. In fact, Americans were so frantic about a potential nuclear disaster that it...

    Read More

  • Jane Wyatt

    1146 Words  | 3 Pages

    During this time a variety of Americans were accused of being Communists or communist sympathizers and were victims of aggressive investigations by government committees and agencies.

    Read More

  • How the Red Scare Created a Hollywood Blacklist

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1930s and 1940s many Hollywood writers, actors, producers, and directors were suspected for communist affiliations. During this time, communism was a popular political movement in the United States, especially among young liberals. There was a growing fear of communism invading American society. By the end of World War Two, an event known as the Red Scare resulted in communism becoming increasingly feared and hated by many in the United States. The Hollywood blacklist caused the Hollywood industry a lot of harm to its business and reputation.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Domesticity In The 1950's

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    “Despite American affluence, the spread of communism and the threat of global atomic war plagued Americans with a sense of constant threat both from within and without” (Prono). Many Americans were being taught that communists were the enemy from when they were young, so it created a generation that had so much hate and were so scared of the communist influence.

    Read More

  • The Crucible: The Rise Of Mccarthyism And American Culture

    800 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Cold War, Cool Medium: Television, McCarthyism and American Culture, Thomas Doherty profiles the 1950's Red Scare, also known as McCarthyism, and its vast effect on American culture during that time. Doherty arms his audience with the revealing history behind the rise and fall of Senator Joe McCarthy, as well as the roots of the anti-communist attitude during the Cold War era that led to the rise of McCarthyism. He discusses the effects of McCarthyism on the entertainment world of the 1950's; the blacklisting of actors, actresses, and producers; many important trials, such as the Army-McCarthy Hearings; and, finally, the end of McCarthyism. An interesting section of the book titled I Love Lucy: The Redhead and the Blacklist demonstrates that in a time

    Read More

  • The 1920's and 1950's Red Scare

    1845 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Red Scare in the 1950’s was actually America’s second red scare. The 1920’s red scare was what helped start suspicion over Communists, but was put off during World War 2. It was no coincidence that what many people called the second red scare ignited after World War 2, during the Cold War, in the 1950’s. The 1920’s red scare started because Americans were paranoid over the fact that Russia may seek revenge after they had overthrown a royal Russian family in 1917. What started Communist ideas in the U.S at the time was the fact that since the war was over many of people were out of jobs which caused people to ask how efficient was the government. The most successful and noteworthy of all the Soviet parties in the 1920’s had to be the International Workers of the World, which was also called the I.W.W or the Wobblies. The Wobblies first strike was on January 21 1919 where about 35,000 shipyard workers struck. They were immediately labeled reds, or Communists. After the first strike mass panic struck the U.S and many major chain stores had to reassure their customers that their workers would not revolt. A mayor named Ole Hansen from Seattle took the Wobblies strikes personally. Strikes continued over the next 6 months and were labeled as “crimes against society”, “conspiracies against the government” and even “plots to establish Communism”. This was when Attorney General A. “

    Read More

  • Impact of the Film, Dr. Strangelove, on American Attitudes Towards the Atomic Bomb and Cold War

    5224 Words  | 11 Pages

    In the third decade of the Cold War, less than two years after the United States population had been scared half-way to death by the Cuban Missile Crisis, Dr. Strangelove invaded the nation's movie theatres and showed the country the end of the world. Touted by critics then and now as the film of the decade, Dr. Strangelove savagely mocked the President, the entire military defense establishment, and the rhetoric of the Cold War. To a nation that was living through the stress of the nuclear arms race and had faced the real prospect of nuclear war, the satiric treatment of the nation's leaders was an orgasmic release from deep fears and tensions. Its detractors argued that the film was juvenile, offensive, and inaccurate. Viewed, however, in its context of the Cold War and nuclear proliferation, Dr....

    Read More

  • Racism in the Movie, Crash

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    All through time, the world has been racist and intolerant of people different from themselves. Countless millions have suffered due to the bigotry of people that couldn't understand change or differences among one another. There was a time when any soul that wasn't blue eyed and blonde haired in Germany, anyone with darker skin where immediately classed as inferior and not human. Even now, when you are not aware, racism is still a considerable problem. But sometimes it isn't one person being racist against another, but rather one person being racist against them self. The movie crash shows good examples of how racism against oneself, caused by fear and misunderstanding, is just as malevolent and evil as racism against another person. Fear is what makes people act racist. Farhad is one of many examples in the movie of a person who recognizes his own race and paralyzes himself through his own fear. Farhad believes that since he is Persian he is immediately being persecuted against and cheated. He flips out at the gun shop when the owner was insulting him which just furthers his fear of Americans. After the events on 9/11, which are referenced a lot in the movie, Farhad thinks that anyone who is Middle Eastern isn't welcome in America. Even after the gun shop owner was rude; his shop was destroyed by racist people who hated him. It is this same fear of being cheated because of his race that makes him very untrusting to people he doesn't know. He calls a lock smith to come fix his door because it won't lock. He immediately thinks that Daniel is trying to cheat him and steal money from him just because of his past endeavors.

    Read More

  • World War II and American Racism

    1823 Words  | 4 Pages

    The United States was a divided nation at the time of World War II. Divided by race and racism. This Division had been much greater in the past with the institution of slavery. As the years went by the those beliefs did deteriorate slowly, but they were still present during the years of World War II. This division was lived out in two forms, legislation and social behavior. The legislation came in the form of the “Jim Crow” laws. The belief that some people were naturally superior and others inferior, scientific racism, was the accepted belief of the time These cultural traits were waning. After World War II ended they would decline even more rapidly.

    Read More

  • The Causes of McCarthyism

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    The attitude of the citizens of the United States was a tremendous influence on the development of McCarthyism. The people living in the post World War II United States felt fear and anger because communism was related with Germany, Italy, and Russia who had all at one point been enemies of the United States during the war. If the enemies were communists then, communists were enemies and any communists or even communist sympathizers were a threat to the American way of life. "From the Bolshevik Revolution on, radicals were seen as foreign agents or as those ...

    Read More

  • The Hollywood’s Blacklist

    1873 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...e American Dream. Larry Ceplair and Englund stated in the book The Inquistion in Hollywood, “The destruction of the motion picture Left not only transformed the political atmosphere in Hollywood, but also adversely affected the kind of product which the studios turned out. “ In the early 20th century Hollywood reframed from producing politically controversial films in fear of becoming a target of McCarthy or the HUAC. Anti-communism influences the films produced, films portrayed communism as evil and immoral. The films during the cold war certainly portrayed the political storm between the progressive left and the conservative right. Films such as Ninotchka in 1939, showed anti-communism, guilty of Treason 1949, showed an attack against communism, exploiting the evils of communism was shown in Docudrama. The Red Menace in 1949 showed the immense threat f communism.

    Read More

  • McCarthyism and the Media

    2469 Words  | 5 Pages

    The ideas promoted by McCarthyism and the anti-communistic sentiment of the times were meant to push people away from non-conventional ways of thinking. Anything that was the slightest bit left or radical or even new could be construed as communistic. After Russia’s rejection to the Marshall Plan, a strong wave of communist fear began to sweep the nation and was being promoted by the U.S. government and the media. The early development of the Russian nuclear weapon brought grounds for suspicions of leaked information and the discovery and conviction of espionage for the Rosenbergs only fanned the flames of fear. The 1940’s were plagued with endless magazine articles like “How Communists Get That Way” and “Communists Are After Your Child.” Even President Truman’s Attorney General stated “There are today many Communists in America. They are everywhere--in factories, offices, butcher shops, on street corners, in private businesses--and each carries in himself the germs of death for society.” The Cold War had created a fear that democracy was in danger and that the American people must take drastic measures to ensure the continuance of their way of life. The first step taken in searching out “Communists” in the U.S. was the development of the House on Un-American Activities Committee or the HUAC. The HUAC was formed in the 1930’s but didn’t really become active until the Cold War controversies began in the forties and fifties and would assist Senator Joseph McCarthy in rooting out the “Reds”. The HUAC distributed millions of pamphlets to the American public cautioning: “One...

    Read More

  • Racism In The Film 'Get Out'

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    When we see around us we see that we all are in the most advanced and technical world. We are in the 21st century where we consider ourselves the most modest and civilized people. But, I think the more we are modernized and enlightened, the more we are becoming narrow minded about race. According to me, in today’s world race is not only about color now, it is more about the upper class and lower class. We human beings are known as the most smartest of all the organisms, but our smartness is leading us to create and build differences between our own human race. Other animals and organisms with whom we share this planet and the ones from whom the species human came, never show these attitudes towards their other members. Firstly, in this

    Read More

  • Racism In Forrest Gump

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nothing translates the modern depiction of southern literature quite like the novel, Forrest Gump. Set in the deep south of the fictional town of Greenbow, Alabama, Winston Groom’s Forrest Gump gives the audience an adequate insight into how the southern way of life was in the late fifties through the seventies. The majority of the movie shows important events during American history at the time. Although this is an essential part of the storyline, the novel itself gives readers a much more in-depth look into southern life. Forrest Gump notes the racial references related to that time period, the portrayal of classic southern culture, and allows southern stereotypes to be apparent throughout.

    Read More

More about Racism In Cold War Film

Open Document