War cinema is one of the most effective narrative media for constructing public opinion

According to Fars News Agency, Seyed Reza Moayedi, a guest researcher at the Political Marketing Center of Imam Sadegh (AS) University Development Center, wrote in a note: In the age of surrealism, there are countless narratives of external events that are constantly circulating around us. Contrary to popular belief, these narratives not only do not bring us closer to reality in most cases, but more and more prevent us from accessing the real thing and, moreover, shape the realities of our world. Meanwhile, war cinema is one of the most effective narrative media for constructing public opinion.

the saving of private Ryan

July 1998 was the day that “Rescue Soldier Ryan” first hit theaters in the United States. The relentless splashing of drops of blood on the video lens, or shots of soldiers’ viscera on the battlefield, nailed the spectators to their seats. The story of this World War II film, which depicts the epic of US forces in the Battle of Normandy, had a strange feel to the American citizen. The film tells the story of Ryan, the fourth son of a family, who, even after all three of his brothers were killed in the war and despite the insistence of a group of American commandos whose mission was to push him back, still refused to put his comrades in line. Leave Moghaddam alone and return home. Captain Miller is in charge of the group that rescues Ryan’s life. Miller was a teacher before the war and had a brave but anti-war personality, escaping to kill as many people as possible. Eventually, Ryan, along with Miller and his comrades, bravely resisted the German advance, despite the little equipment they had left. Thus, from the beginning to the end of the story, the audience witnesses the bravery of American soldiers in a brutal and full-scale war; A war that is performed with a full artist and immerses the audience in the depths of its breathtaking moments.

War cinema and public support for militarism

The high box office sales and the unparalleled popularity of the American public help us to guess the intensity of the eruption of national pride and the extraordinary patriotism that the film created at that time. The same sentiment that calls on every American citizen to fully and unequivocally defend the interests and national security of his country, and to legitimize and validate any action taken to protect the two. Surprisingly, some have categorized the film as anti-war, citing a number of humanitarian dialogues or portraying black and violent figures from the war. The film, however, essentially seeks to reinforce an idea that the United States has insisted on for years: pacifism while defending national and global security. It was no coincidence that just five months after the release of Ryan’s soldier, US Air Force fighter jets bombed Iraq extensively. A country that has been constantly in the free media since the first Gulf War! Was identified as a potential threat. Of course, perhaps in those days, no American would have even thought that two or three years later, a few “Muslim terrorists” would shoot down the hijacked planes at targets in the heart of America and their country would be “forced” to Afghanistan, somewhere in the Middle East and thousands of miles away. Withdraw from America, fight terrorism! And yet no one thought that two years after going to Afghanistan, the United States would officially invade Iraq. In any case, the eyes that watched the twin collapses of the Twin Towers on the morning of September 11, 2001, were exactly the same eyes that watched Ryan’s soldier rescue in July 1998: “Now America certainly had the right to set the world on fire. “Kill him!” American public support for state militarism certainly owed much to the productions of “war cinema” over the years.

The age of surrealism; The dominance of simulation over reality

Today, the media is constantly and increasingly redefining politics, culture, economics, etc., and the relationships between these areas. Today it is difficult to say that politics is one thing and the media is another; Rather, politics becomes meaningful in the media itself. Perhaps the reason should also be sought in the fact that in the present period, it is not at all easy to distinguish between fantasy and reality. Thus, politics can no longer be identified as a mere external reality. Jean Baudrillard, the famous postmodern sociologist and theorist, argues that in the present age there is essentially nothing called reality; Rather, with the domination of “symbolic values” or the symbolic aspect of reality over reality, it is “surrealism” that has manifested itself. As a result, “contemporary man is deeply hostage to the media and cannot have a first-hand, direct experience of the world around him.” He is forced to go through the simulated images and images of the media of his life, and it seems that he has no choice but to make some kind of epistemic contentment! It was in this context that Baudrillard made his famous and controversial statement: “The Persian Gulf War never happened.” In fact, he did not seek to deny the Gulf War, but he meant that if the Gulf War were the images that are being represented in the media, such a war would never have taken place.

Narrative in the Age of Surrealism

The Rescue of Soldier Ryan was a unique, all-American account of World War II that, while portraying unrealistically directed images, at the same time directed and constructed a reality called public opinion and the mentality of the American people. A mentality that was seen as a link in a chain and a piece of the puzzle of subsequent events, and the system of governance of the United States was in dire need of it to advance its policies. Interestingly, in this equation, from the next step onwards, the simulation process is reversed, instead of representations being based on reality, reality is adapted to the represented images. For example, movies that were supposed to narrate the realities of war themselves become a yardstick by which politicians and policymakers from all walks of life use the same yardstick to understand the phenomenon of war; What wars of the past and what wars are planned to happen in the future. It was this entanglement of the real and the unreal that, in Baudrillard’s view, was one of the hallmarks of the age of media domination of human life. In other words, media narration in the age of surrealism means “narration and deep falsification of foreign events.” Today, the behaviors, feelings, beliefs, and even inner desires of people in different societies are a function of directed patterns and fabricated media narratives. Narratives that, of course, sometimes seem more real than reality.

Where should we stand?

As noted, the complexity of the media of the present day cannot be summed up in the “war of narratives” alone; But to understand this complexity is certainly the first step in “taking the war of narratives seriously.” You have probably heard this interpretation over and over again in recent times; This is exactly what should have happened and should be repeated; Repeatedly. Repetition of a concept stabilizes that concept in people’s minds, and it is necessary to take mental stabilization seriously. However, we must not only have our own narrative of reality, but we must also have the ability to overcome the narrative of the opponent. For example, we talked about the serious impact of one of the most popular works of war cinema, “Saving Private Ryan”, on American public opinion (and that of many people around the world). A narrative that not only blatantly covers up America’s war crimes, but also perpetuates and perpetuates American militarism around the world. A narrative that portrays America’s enemies – and the Nazis in particular in this film – as inherently “warlike” and portrays the American hero as “anti-war but to the last defender.” Despite the anti-war appearance of a work such as The Rescue of Soldier Ryan, the epic spirit of this cinematic masterpiece is in perfect harmony with and reinforces American militarism. The question is, where is our all-encompassing and compelling narrative, which impresses the audience both domestically and internationally, and puts the story of Ryan’s soldier rescue in the clutches?

Conclusion

As mentioned, war cinema has great potential for aligning public opinion with the policies of the ruling system. The adversary, by creating works such as Saving Private Ryan, forces the mentality of his community to support the campaign in the West Asian region. It is exactly the point of intersection of confrontation with us, and if our presence in the region becomes necessary, it is because of the arson and insecurity caused by these same campaigns from the other side of the world. The experience of the imposed war and now the experience of being in the region and defending the sanctuary has put on our table the great capacity to be able to narrate and to narrate well. If the “narrative will” arises, our hand is undoubtedly far wider than the opponent’s.

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