Zero Dark Thirty's Role In American History

Jesse Yavner

Mr. Diamente

AP American History Course 3

06/01/2016

Argo, American Sniper, and, Zero Dark Thirty’s Role in Portraying Recent Conflicts in the Middle East

George Macdonald Fraser, the author of The Hollywood History of the World, once said, “What is overlooked is the astonishing amount of history Hollywood has got right... For better or worse, nothing has been more influential in shaping our visions of the past than the commercial cinema.” Fraser perfectly describes the impact and role of Hollywood in shaping our judgement of history. Not only has Hollywood portrayed various events and conflicts in history including the conflicts in the Middle East, but Hollywood has also portrayed various perspectives, opinions, and depictions

In order to be lucrative, the producers of films such as Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, and American Sniper have to attract the masses by promoting American nationalism. In fact, in Argo there are many events and ideas that are not based on facts and are just twisting the truth to make the storyline more interesting and increase ticket sales. For example, in the movie, the British turned away the fugitive American diplomats when they were trying to escape the U.S. embassy. In actuality, the British embassy sheltered the fugitives, but eventually the fugitives moved to the Canadian embassy when the British embassy became exposed to attack. Therefore, in the real Iranian Hostage Crisis the British attempted to help the United States, but in order to make Argo a more interesting story, the film deliberately alters the truth and portrays Britain ultimately not helping the United States. Argo, like many other films, appeals to inner fears and prejudices. “That is why Ben Affleck had a mild dig at the British in Argo... It is why American movies imply America won the war, and British ones that Britain did. It is why Hollywood has stopped killing orientals and started killing Arabs. Films must now sell in China” (Jenkins, How Many 'true Story' Films Should Be Classified L for Lie?). Also, Hollywood endorses America’s foreign policy in the Middle East. In fact, at the Golden Globe movie awards, a

For example, when the US diplomats walk through Iran, every Iranian is portrayed as angry, shouty, and violent. This is similar in American Sniper. First off, the film never shows American troops cooperating with friendly Iraqi forces; Instead, it only shows negative interactions between Americans and Iraqis. In addition, all Middle Easterners, including civilians, are portrayed as the enemy and bad people. For example, Chris Kyle has dinner with an Iraqi man deemed to be a standard civilian and of course, this man turned out to be a terrorist. At the dinner table the Iraqi man bent down to pick something up and his elbow was exposed. It was a bright red color as if it had been burned. From this, Chris Kyle determined that this Iraqi was a insurgent sniper. Zero Dark Thirty does the same. For example, Muslim characters are presented as an “undifferentiated mass of enemies” and “bearded objects to be tortured for information about Osama Bin Laden” (Vejnoska, Muslims Slam TV Portrayals as Unfair); It shows that Americans believe that the Middle Eastern reasons for fighting are unimportant. In addition, while on the mission to capture and kill Osama Bin Laden, the American team killed many other Middle Easterners along the way, both terrorists and innocent civilians. This creates the American impression that the entire Muslim world and every Middle Easterner is