Perception of American Enemies: Analyzing Film Representation for 1940s Japan and 1980s Vietnam

Abstract

The depictions of the enemy are always an important part of war. It is important for the soldier to be able have distance from the enemy. Being able to associate the enemy as an animal or something less than human makes it easier for the soldier slashing the sword or pulling the trigger to kill another human. Films have been a modern way to depict the enemy to a large audience. In WWII the Japanese were subject of many propaganda films that pushed the idea that they had a lack of humanity. This paper examines those representations of the Japanese and compares them to the depictions of the enemy in Vietnam War. After the end of the conflict in Vietnam movies began to be made about the war. A large difference between the films of two time periods is the change in the representation of how U.S. forces are represented killing the enemy. The killing of Japanese was portrayed in films during wartime as part of a victorious quest. Killing the Vietcong in films that came out years after the unpopular Vietnam War ended were portrayed in a darker way. These differences change how the viewer will look at the enemy in these past conflicts.