Paper
This cultural analysis series showcases how, every day, Americans are inundated with cultural products promoting militarism. Consuming War papers provide case-by-case introductions to the militarization of movies/tv, video games, sports, social media, toys and fashion. Papers are authored separately by media studies scholars Tanner Mirlees (Associate Professor, Ontario Tech University) Matthew Payne (Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame), political theorist Roberto Sirvent (Lecturer, Harvard Medical School), anthropologist Eva Mariá Rey Pinto (Adjunct Professor, American University), anthropologist David Vine and political theorist Cynthia Enloe (Clark University).
From movies to sporting events, our attention is often captured by messages that glorify combat while obscuring the deadly realities of war. The entertainment we consume obscures the costs of war and can normalize the military’s central purpose — war-making — by framing it as a shared value, preventing reflection about the choices behind the use of the U.S. military, the treatment of military personnel, or the consequences of U.S. militarism. The Consuming War series examines how the Pentagon influences cultural creations to recruit troops and build public support.
When we as Americans are aware of how we are consuming cultural messages, we are better able to resist their effects and ask critical questions about how the U.S. engages in the world.
