Pleasing Films for Historians and Mainstream Audiences

Glory is a movie about the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first official all black units in the United States during the Civil War. It’s an inspirational story of how a young Union soldier, Robert Gould Shaw, is offered the chance to lead an army unit that will change not only his life, but the lives of many other Americans.

When the United States entered World War II in 1941, it was commonly believed that the war was “America’s golden age, a peak in the life of society when everything worked out and the good guys definitely got a happy ending” (2), which is a direct result from Hollywood’s glamorization of the war. During the war, the film industry began to boom, using the war as inspiration for making movies. Lifeboat (1944) and The Moon Is Down (1943) for example, makes it clear who the enemies were because the enemies were always “…cruel, devious, and unprincipled…” (11). It was also clear who the good guys and heroes were. The film industry even glamorized how people died in the war. In these movies whenever an American died their death was quick, painless, and clean. However, when the

However, the discussion of whether the bomb should have been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki still continues. What would happen if the bombs were never dropped? Was it right to incinerate not only soldier, but also innocent civilians? These rhetorical questions may never be answered, but analyzing the effects and possible theories could lead to a conclusion. Furthermore, Hiroshima illustrates the personal incidents to help the audience understand and feel the individual’s physiological and emotional trauma: to cause the reader to feel like they are personally at Hiroshima or

“Angels on the Streets” is an enlightenment movie, from the Colonial Era, that gives the audience a glimpse on how the Korean film industry has been impacted due to Japanese colonization. Throughout the movie, Japanese influence can be seen through assimilation so that Koreans have to integrate to a Japanese way of thinking and living. Such assimilation can be seen through noticeable propaganda, introduction of Westernization, and the idea of being an imperial citizen in a new-nation state. Propaganda portrays ideas that are favorable towards Japanese living.

Dark red Sunset is a Memoir of Ma Bo 's that sent a stun wave all through China when it was distributed and was even prohibited by the Communist Government for a set timeframe. This story paints an unmistakable picture for what the Great Chinese Cultural Revolution was truly similar to. Chinese living today can bear witness to if this the life that they needed to persevere amid the Cultural Revolution comparable if not indistinguishable experiences as communicated in Ma Bo 's story. The drudges of being a youthful Red Guard in inward China were experienced by many if not millions. The revulsions and monstrosities were across the board all through the nation, not simply in Inner Mongolia. The encounters outlined in Blood Red Sunset

When it comes to World War II, most people think of Nazi Germany, D-Day, and Europe in general. However, another important front of WWII was located in Asia. This front was located in China, and was known as the second Sino- Japanese War. Though American involvement was minimal compared to Europe or the Pacific Islands, this “war within a war”, beginning in 1937, had a huge impact on the rest of the world. In order to understand this impact, we must look at every aspect of the war. Who was involved in this war? What were the major events of the war? Finally, what atrocities were committed in this war?

The general feel of Zhigeng’s book portrays the Chinese as victims of World War II, specifically victims of the brutality of the Japanese. His introduction asserts that not did the Japanese commit these crimes, but some modern Japanese leaders refuse that these crimes occurred. While Zhigeng’s history may mostly, or even entirely, accurate, the main problem with his work is that he does not offer a works cited. Throughout the work, he mentions how he used interviews, as well as other sources, for his research, but he does not include any

Disney brings back a historical and political perspective portrayed in the film by facts, events and figures from China’s historical contexts.

In subsequent years following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China came a revolutionary new approach to not only producing films, but also film’s very role in communist society. During this period the state gained complete control of the filmmaking industry, decreeing that the utilitarian functions of art and literature were to become a powerful weapon in serving the revolutionary struggle. In an otherwise artistically stifling period in which socialist realism pervaded all creative outlets, Xie Jin managed to retain some autonomy and emerged as one of the cleverest Chinese directors in the early 1960s. In his 1961 film Red Detachment of Women, Jin provides a classic revolutionary melodrama, yet also displays elements of formalism so that the viewer becomes conscious of the manipulations of his film technique. To analyze this film, I will use Mao Zedong’s 1942 “Talks at the Yan 'an Forum on Literature and Art,” clip #10 “Landmark 2,” and clip #6 “We are joining the red army” to elaborate on the major themes and cinematic style that distinguish Xie Jin’s work from his contemporaries.

In this project, I will be investigating the different potential causes of the Nanking Massacre. I will then evaluate my sources and then come to a conclusion in which I will state the main cause for this treacherous act. I will consider the roots of the cause, and also the effect that it has had. I will look at the way that it has tied in with the massacre itself, and I will explore further about the ways that it has affected the races; both the Chinese and the Japanese.. I will use sources from documentaries, quotes and biographies.

‘The Man in the High Castle’ tells the story of a parallel world, one in which the Japanese and the Germans won the war, and the world now operates in their favor. The story line revolves around a book that is written by a man who only writes what the Ching says to. One book in particular is forbidden to many, and it is because the contents tell the story of ‘what really happened’, how we got to the world we live in today. Philip K Dick wraps this intriguing story around themes of power, deceit, racial discrimination, fate, and gender norms of the 1950’s and 60’s.

As the theme of this film of eight people saving one person, it may never happen in reality. However, they still carry out their duties in order to prevent a decrepit and ailing mother suffer all her sons have been killed in the war. The fiction of human nature has touched people’s heart deeply, so that we shall not be overcritical about whether it is consistent with historical facts or other numerous issues. This should be the brilliant point of the director by impressing audiences with the sharp contrast between reality and fiction of humanity. Watching a historical film may not make any change of the past, but it may change the future.

In this article, Thomas Lamarre analyzes Akira in order to explain the cultural phenomenon of a Japanese fascination with destruction. He states that Japanese audiences have continually had a "traumatic fascination" with images of destruction ever since the dropping of the atomic bombs (140). He proposes nuclear symbolism is so widespread in Japanese film because acting out destruction helps viewers come to terms with the trauma caused by it in reality (132). Japanese audiences want to draw near to and comprehend the destruction, just as how many characters in the film want to find the little boy Akira so that they can have a grasp on his power (136). The repetition of acting out an historically traumatic event in media assists the audience

How the Fallout Affected Media Culture Post-War The Godzilla (Gojira - ゴジラ) monster was first introduced in the 1954 film of the same name. Susan Napier is an author of many books on Japanese culture and professor of Japanese studies at the University of Texas at Austin. In her contribution to the book “In Godzilla’s Footsteps”, Napier describes how she and many other scholars firmly believe that the Godzilla monster is a thinly veiled metaphor for the atomic bombings of World War II.

The Second World War was history’s most brutal conflict ever witnessed over the course of mankind. The conflict bred a whole sleuth of technological innovations, death and destruction, large scale genocides, and completely reshaped the world afterwards. It set the path for a prolonged nuclear arms race between capitalist and communist countries and had huge implications for third world countries that are still affected by the events of the war today. Of all the fronts of the war; whether it be the Pacific Theatre which pitted the Allies against the fanatical and suicidal Japanese army or Western Europe with the Allied invasion of Normandy and Operation Overlord. No front of the war proved to be more costly and devastating than the Eastern Front