Week 13

This week we read about the depictions of the crafty and cunning American spy was embedded into American psyche by television shows during the Cold War. We also read about how times of crisis effect how Americans view their identity. It is interesting to see how early on in the Cold War, television networks put forth programming that supported patriotism and American ideals in order to gain support from the government and avoid persecution form Red Scare witch hunts. What's even more interesting is that with the decline of the Red Scare, these serious spy thrillers became more comedic and parodies of themselves. We saw how an analysis of the evolution of these shows gives us a tool to examine American nationalism and its portrayal in the media. This week we also handed out the role assignments for the simulation. Luckily I don't have to go it alone on the project, as I am part of a popular media group. I'm the head of A&R for NHM Music, but I'm not exactly sure how to frame that in terms of media and foreign policy. Our group met together after class and it looks to be a very interesting project.

1. Where there any other genre of popular media that was influenced by the Cold War?
2. What role does music play in the foreign policy process?


1. Two genres of popular media that were affected by the Cold War are Western films and theater. Two examples of this are the film High Noon and the play The Crucible. The Crucible is about the actual witch hunts in Salem, an almost direct parallel to the McCarthy hearings. High Noon was also influenced by the Cold War because of the main role of the countdown to the arrival of the antagonist, a parallel to the countdown to the end of containment and nuclear destruction.