"Now a Major Motion Picture": War Films and Hollywood's New Patriotism

Abstract

The "New Patriotism" that has appeared in recent Americans films is not a revival of older, reassuring versions of patriotic fervor and ideological conviction. In actuality, the "New Patriotism" can be seen as a repudiation of sentimental and ideological concepts that put nation and cause ahead of individual survival. The "New Patriotism" celebrates, in essence, loyalty to one's comrades in battle, the ability to survive the horrific face of modern hyper-lethal weaponry and warfare, and the shared experience of battle. Films such as The Patriot, Saving Private Ryan, We Were Soldiers, and Black Hawk Down do not revive patriotism so much as turn it inside out so that the private motivations and goals of the individual soldier superscede any stated or understood national or public rationales for whatever war is being fought.

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