Life Impact The University of Adelaide Slide 1

Media Discipline Seminar Presentation9 February 2011

“From Ivan to Osama: How Hollywood Cinematically Mediates and Represents the Changing Nature of

Terrorism”

Presented by: Jay Reid, MPhil Candidate

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TOPIC & OBJECTIVES

• How has popular culture responded to events such as 9/11?

• Terrorism as defining and daily part of life

• Popular culture serves as means of public education

• Interested in how terrorists are represented within the media, first encountered in honour dissertation (Reid & Cover, 2010)

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HISTORY OF TERRORISM

• 3rd century BC – first mentioned by Greek philosophers

• 18th century – ‘Reign of Terror’ during French revolution

• 19th century - Italian, Russian and German groups

• Early 20th century – disappeared due to WWI & WWII

• (Fine, 2008; Pettiford & Harding, 2003: 31-40; Townshend, 2002: 60)

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HISTORY OF TERRORISM• 1940-1960 - Returned after WWII, desire for national

independence, no religious motivation

• 1970’s – Rise of global terror movements, Munich Olympics

• 1980’s – Rise of suicide bombers, Air India Flight 182 & Pam An Flight 103 (Lockerbie)

• 1990’s – Religion not dominant motivation, rise of Osama bin Laden

• 2000’s – 9/11, Bali nightclub, London subway, Time Square

• (Fine, 2008; Pettiford & Harding, 2003: 55-145; Townshend, 2002: 96-111)

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SIGNIFICANCE & CONTRIBUTION

• Terrorism not a new phenomena (Fine, 2008; Pettiford & Harding, 2003: 31-145; Townshend, 2002: 60-111)...

• ... though 9/11 has forever changed the world (Dixon, 2004: 2; Giroux, 2004: 9; Young, 2007: 44)

• Pop culture educates the public on trending topics, such as terrorism (Altheide, 2006: 420; Schack, 2009: 65-67; Schoop & Hill, 2009: 16-27)

• As films can shape public opinion we should examine how they re-educate audiences over time about the changing nature of terrorism and what inspires these changes

• Need for new approaches in post-9/11 world (Rich, 2004: 10)

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LITERATURE REVIEW

• First study of its kind• Previous studies only look at small segments of film• Majority of literature is focused on only a few films• Terrorists: Limited, IRA as new Communists• Attacks: Little on changes over time• Hero: Harrison Ford, race in The Siege• Very little than spans pre- and post-9/11

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• H1: "The events of September 11, 2001, have changed the onscreen portrayal and behaviour of terrorists, moving away from post-World War II and post-Cold War inspired secular terrorists to contemporary Middle Eastern terrorists inspired by religion."

• RQ1: Ethnicity of terrorists over time

• RQ2: Terrorists as the ‘Other’

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• H2: "The nature of cinematic terrorist attacks has changed over time to reflect real world terrorist incidents."

• RQ3: Changes to means, methods & weapons

• RQ4: Presence or absence of religion

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RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• H3: "In order to respond to the changing nature of terrorists and the acts they carry out, the counter-terrorist hero has been forced to change over time."

• RQ5: The hero as a national representation

• RQ6: The shifting morality of the hero

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THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK & METHODOLOGY

• Stuart Hall – representation & the ‘Other’

• Edward Said – Oriental discourse

• Michel Foucault – surveillance, monitoring & docile bodies

• Create unique framework that binds these three theorists together

• Quantative & qualative approaches

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PRE-9/11 FILMS

• Toy Soldiers (1991)• Passenger 57

(1992)• Patriot Games

(1992) ♦• Under Siege

(1992)• Demolition Man

(1993)• In The Name of the

Father (1993)• Speed (1994)• True Lies (1994)

• Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) ●

• GoldenEye (1995) ■

• Executive Decision (1996)

• The Rock (1996)• Eraser (1996)• Broken Arrow

(1996)• Mission Impossible

I (1996) ▲• Air Force One

(1997)

• The Devil’s Own (1997)

• The Peacemaker (1997)

• Face/Off (1997)• Tomorrow Never

Dies (1997) ■• The Siege (1998)• Arlington Road

(1999)• The World Is Not

Enough (1999) ■• Mission Impossible

II (2000) ▲• Swordfish (2001)

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POST-9/11 FILMS

• Collateral Damage (2002)

• The Sum of All Fears (2002) ♦

• Bad Company (2002)

• Die Another Day (2002) ■

• Homeland Security (2004)

• Syriana (2005)• Flightplan (2005)• Red Eye (2005)

• Munich (2005)• United 93 (2006)• World Trade Centre

(2006)• Mission Impossible

III (2006) ▲

• Casino Royale (2006) ■

• Lions for Lambs (2007)

• The Kingdom (2007)

• Rendition (2007)

• Die Hard 4.0 (2007) ●

• Body of Lies (2008)

• Vantage Point (2008)

• Quantum of Solace (2008) ■

• From Paris With Love (2010)

• Salt (2010)

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TIMELINE

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REFENCES• Altheide, David (2006). "Terrorism and the Politics of Fear". Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies

6.4, 2006: 415-439.• Dixon, Wheeler Winston (2004a). "Introduction: Something Lost - Films after 9/11". Film and Television

After 9/11. Ed: Dixon, Wheeler Winston. 2004: 1-28.• Fine, Jonathan (2008). "Contrasting Secular and Religious Terrorism". Middle East Quarterly 15.1: 59-

69.• Giroux, Henry (2004). "Terrorism and the fate of democracy after September 11". Cultural Studies ↔

Critical Methodologies 2.1, 2004: 9-14.• Pettiford, Lloyd & Harding, David (2003). Terrorism: The New World War. Australia: Arcturus

Publishing.• Reid, Jay & Cover, Rob (2010). "The Art of War Reporting: Theorising Contemporary Embedded

Journalism as Public Discourse". Reconstructions: Studies in Contemporary Culture 10.4.• Rich, B. Ruby (2001). "Back to the future". The Nation 15 Oct. 2001: 44-45.• Schack, Todd (2009). “Perpetual media wars: The cultural front in the War on Terror and Drugs”. The

War on Terror and American Popular Culture. Eds: Schopp, Andrew & Hill, Matthew. Cranbury: Associated UP: 65-89.

• Schoop, Andrew & Hill, Matthew (2009). "Introduction: The curious knot." The War on Terror and American Popular Culture. Eds: Schopp, Andrew & Hill, Matthew. Cranbury: Associated UP: 11-44.

• Townshend, Charles (2002). Terrorism: A Very Short Introduction. New York: Oxford UP.• Young, Alison (2007). "Images in the Aftermath of Trauma: Responding to September 11th". Crime

Media Culture 3.1: 30-48. Slide 14

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QUESTIONS & FEEDBACK

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