Book Review of Hollywood Goes to War

The authors of Hollywood Goes to War

The authors of the intriguing new novel Hollywood Goes to War are Clayton Koppes and Gregory Black. The conflicting relationship between government and the arts is the primary topic of this old topic. The two writers offer fresh ideas and perspectives on the subject. Instead of barely focusing on using movies as propaganda, they discuss a wide range of topics, including how to increase support for the Second World War, the nature and significance of government repression of private media, and the implications of Hollywood and Washington’s cooperation during the war for the postwar era. The narration they provide is both intriguing and extremely unsettling. Generally, my paper is a book review of Hollywood Goes to War.

Washington’s trials to curve Hollywood

The initial five chapters of this book chronicle Washington’s trials to curve Hollywood to its objectives. By 1941, such struggles seemed probable to prosper for reasons which had to do with both Hollywood’s wants and Washington’s wishes (Koppes and Gregory 23). The movie sector, a firmly controlled cartel, was prone to government influence because it had long since knuckled under to its private Production Code Administration and often accepted aid from the War and Navy Divisions. Producers’ earlier reluctance to produce movies about politically sensitive matters disappeared with Nazi invasion of Europe; the market that had accounted for up to half the profits on story movies was gone. The outlook of profits in a fresh abroad market, consisting of American multitudes and dominated individuals, for which government export licenses would be appropriate, was fairly significant in modeling their attitude toward cooperation with Washington.

The use of propaganda

Propaganda may be described as the effort to influence people’s view or the aim of assisting or injuring a specific cause, person or team. The propagandas strive for controlling rather than informing (Koppes and Gregory 11). After going through Hollywood Goes to War, an individual cannot assist but do away with the image that the film sector and several government departments were so much into propaganda business before and throughout the World War II. By the end of 1930s the big eight Hollywood studios conquered the local and international markets. These organizations had established a vertically joined sector. The authors comment that the corporations ruled the whole activities from shooting and making of movies via dissemination and retailing (Koppes and Gregory 34). The Big Eight benefited approximately 95% of all motion image rentals in America by the end of 1930. Their power over theatre chains, specifically the all-significance first-run city homes which decided an images future, was serious.

Conflicts between Hollywood and the American rule

One factor that is a section of present wars is propaganda. Koppes and Gregory conclude that Hollywood and the United States rule attempted, at times prospered, to use movies to increase the strength in World War II. Difficulties arose when the two groups had unlike goals and visions about what films should achieve. Groups with different visions cannot succeed since they will always be having disagreeing ideas with a selfish aim of achieving their own private benefits. As a result of this, there were constant wars and conflicts between the Hollywood and the American rule. Each group had their own vision of what films should do and wanted to see it going through.

Challenges faced by movie-producers during the war

According to the two authors, movie-producers saw numerous chances as war entered the United States. Wars have usually given good plots, and Hollywood confirmed willingness to depict war (Koppes and Gregory 67). For many film-makers, however, the bottom line was the most significant factor in producing a movie. They therefore preferred films that concentrated the fighting or a love concern because those narrations pleased the biggest audience. They were certain that they would make profits when they focus on such type of movies making them unwilling to do away with the idea of concentrating on them.

The power of government and the Office of War Information

The authors went further to explain that the men who controlled the film sector in its evolution to huge business were mainly Jewish theater possessors. The Jewish theater possessors were distinctively suitable to the duty. The content of motion images became passionately globalist and anti-isolationist many years before Pearl Harbor. In 1938 American artists freed Blockade. Catholic institutions objected the displaying of this image because of the pro-Communist Republican troops record of violence to priests and nuns. Some journalist and administration alleged Hollywood of a trial to record the screen of the United States for Communistic propaganda motives. They argued that the league was done and funded almost fully by the Jews.

Government personals, on the other hand, thought firmly in the power of movies to manipulate the public outlook and view. The main department associated with Hollywood film-producing, the Office of War Information, persistently wanted to model the content of movies with an aim of increasing the support of people for the war. In 1942, the Office of War Information made a manual of opinions for the motion of image sector. The manual suggested that wartime images should be beneficial to the war struggle, and real. In implementation, however, benefits usually overpowered reality. Office of War Information continuously confirmed readiness to play games with the reality if that approach would present unified war determination.

Cooperation and conflicts between Hollywood and the Office of War Information

Office of War Information staffs emphasized that movies presentation combined military units when none was present in American troops (Koppes and Gregory 153). The desired work unrest reduced even though some happened throughout the war. The most perplexing fact is that the Office of War Information struggled for presentation of all the associates as freedom-loving democracies but some of them, such as Stalin of Russia and Chiang Kai-shek of China, could not likely suit the mold. Reality went through rough time in the struggle of winning the war. Truth was compromised in movies just for the purpose of the United States to succeed in war by exploitation of the Hollywood and film-producers.

The power of the Office of War Information and the Bureau of Motion Pictures

Koppes and Black demonstrated that Hollywood film-producer and the Office of War Information staffs wanted to cooperate and combine their efforts just to make all people happy and make movies that fostered the war determination and also attracted profit. The main instrument of Office of War Information for inspiring Hollywood collaboration was rule over export licenses. Generally, selling a movie abroad was a surety of huge profits. Therefore, movie-makers would want to work together with the agency as much as possible. The agency used its power for selfish gains which was to convince the film-producers to cooperate with them.

Control over film content and conflicts

The aspiration to work together, however, did not constantly give good outcomes. The Office of War Information staffs desired films to emphasize on delicate and elusive themes that movie-producers thought to be challenging to show on screen (Koppes and Gregory 181). For instance, Office of War Information inspired the routine and habit of using a diversity of perceptions on the enemy, but film-producers had a tendency of using stereotypes, specifically when showing or representing the Japanese. Government executives usually considered many shades of gray to have a global interest. Hollywood, believing to raise dramatic impacts, showed most of the matters in black and white.

Hollywood’s compliance with government orders

Even with challenges and conflicts, Koppes and Black commented that Hollywood compiled with the orders of the Office of War Information. They were like slaves of the agency. Throughout the war period, the Office of War Information went through approximately 1,652 writings. The department had the idea of adjustments to be done in most of those situations most of the situations and film-makers respected those suggestions. This showed that Hollywood had respect for the authority and would do anything so that they may not collide or get into a conflict. According to the authors, Office of War and Information in Hollywood stands for the most broad and persistent government trial to change the content mass media in the history of United States. The agency struggled so hard to take the powers of deciding what to be included in film from film-producers. This is confirmed by the fact that they did not only direct Hollywood on what should be omitted but also order them on what to contain (Koppes and Gregory 324).

The role of the Bureau of Motion Pictures

Additionally, not only the Office of War and Information wanted to manipulate the content of movies but also the Bureau of Motion Pictures played a part in this. The Office of Censorship established by the Roosevelt ruin to run the wartime censorship of letters, movies, maps and other materials, had the power of rebuffing an export license for a movie. Since approximately 40% of the income of films was from abroad market, the Department of Censorship had significant authority over film content, from script endorsement to last cut. Hollywood Goes to War discusses sternly the feature movies produced by the chief studios and the organizations associated with the film making process. The writers do not talk about cover training movies and documentaries produced by the American Forces with selected Hollywood staff theatre-produced short movies, documentaries and cartoon.

The power to control the content of entertainment and information

Undoubtedly, the Hollywood theaters had the desire of assisting in the war effort and conquest of the Axis, but the film owners were not ready to be told on how to operate their monopolistic businesses (Koppes and Gregory 36). They were mainly focused on getting profit. In the beginning of 1930’s, the theaters had changed the content of their movies so that they could access the abroad market in countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain. The abroad market for Hollywood films reduced as National Socialist and Fascist political rallies became very powerful.

The impact of controlling people’s views

Finally, the writers of Hollywood Goes to War clearly showed that the power to model and control the content of entertainment and information was unusual throughout the World War II, when rebellious suggestion was probably to be muted and suppressed with claims of it being war effort. Awkwardly, the two writers do not talk about the intentions that made the United States fall a victim of the World War II which should have come first. They are also excessively serious of the encouragements of the isolationists and try to diminish the impact of leftwing and Marxist features in prewar Hollywood, particularly among the screen authors. However, the narration gives a firm and true image of what results when an influential industry and the government attempt to control the view of people.

Work Cited

Koppes, Clayton R., and Gregory D. Black. Hollywood goes to war: How politics, profits, and propaganda shaped World War II movies. Univ of California Press, 1990.