The Crunch

American military propaganda shows up in many more movies than one might expect. You could say there has been an outbreak of it. The movie I saw tonight was yet another example of one form of military propaganda - perhaps the most common yet most well disguised form. This is the “give false hope” form of propaganda.

The movie is called “Outbreak”. It is basically about a terrible new virus which spreads far to quickly through a small American town. Our hero, a military man himself, struggles against the virus, a failed marriage, and the American military to try to prevent the spread of and find a cure for this virulent virus. Throughout, we are bombarded with high tech gadgets, high tech mumbo-jumbo, and displays of military prowess. The movie is essentially enjoyable if one likes high-tech, high-tension, high-romance (but no sex), stories. It is not a remarkable movie.

The real hook of the movie is the conflict between our hero and his commanding officers in the military. It turns out that the virus is well known to the military but not our hero. The military has carefully studied it and found a cure. The virus and its cure are kept secret by the military in the hopes that, if necessary, this terrible virus will be a potent biological weapon. The military’s desire to keep its weapon secret hampers our hero in his investigation of the virus. Our hero, having subjected himself to great personal risk, including insubordination of a commanding officer (or two), resisting military arrest, and participating in a high-speed helicopter chase, has found the cure. Unfortunately, the order has already been given to bomb the town and all its inhabitants (including our hero’s sick ex-wife) thus exterminating all threat of the virus while keeping the military’s secrets safe. At the end, our hero plays a game of chicken, not between two speeding cars, but between a helicopter (which he is in) and an obese military bomber which has been sent to bomb the small American town in question.

So much for plot summary. You may say, “Sounds like the military is really trashed in this movie. How is it that this can be propaganda for that very same military?”

Look to the American people. Do they like authority? No! This is a big problem for the military, after all, it is inherently authoritarian. Not only is the military command structure dictatorial, but the military is a threat to the personal freedom of every individual in the United States of America. In the extreme, everyone fears the time when some crazy politician takes control of the military, uses its unquestioning respect for authority and turns it against the American people. It is only natural for Americans to fear this.

So this movie addresses this fear. “Outbreak” tries to assuage the horror of military authority and power by showing that an “outbreak” of individual sentimentalism can triumph over the rigid unfeeling tyrrany of the military. This is not possible. Every movie made with the support of the military of the United States of America dwells on the same theme. The military screws up. Some Joe American Guy bucks the authority and saves the day. What a comfort! The military can be defeated! Of course, this is only a decoy - it gives the American people some hope that when it comes down to the crunch, their military can be made humane, if only one individual will rise up to battle the forces of authority.