USMC

1994’s Clear and Present Danger is one of the most important movies in the cinema of the war on drugs,...

The Military, Movies and #MeToo

The 2005 biographical war film Jarhead is one of a very small number of films set in the first Gulf...

The US military, particularly the Air Force, invested a lot of time and resources in helping make Captain Marvel, and...

The DOD claim that they only rewrite Hollywood scripts in order to ensure accuracy and to inform the public about...

One of the Pentagon's consistent bugbears when it comes to movie scripts is swearing. Whether it is from the mouths of military or civilian characters, the DOD doesn't like those ████ing cuss words. But why not? Given their various political and PR concerns why is bad language such a problem? Compared to executing prisoners of war or digging gold teeth out of the mouths of dead soldiers, a quick ████ or ██████████ seems trivial.

While some senior military officials have spoken openly about the possibility of a war between the US and China, the entertainment liaison offices appear to be working to ensure that doesn't happen. Perhaps surprisingly, they have refused to support films, TV shows and video games where China is the adversary or antagonist, replicating the mentality shown by the Chinese government's censorship board.(Read more...)

Hollywood doesn’t make war films any more. This isn’t entirely true, but compared to the post-WW2 period there are a lot less war films being made today. In this in-depth episode I offer a brief history of war movies and anti-war movies, and how the Pentagon’s policy on supporting films depicting war seems to have changed over time. I highlight some of my favourite anti-war movies, along with the most anti-war films the DOD has supported.

The Vietnam war had a huge impact.  3 million dead Vietnamese, tens of thousands of dead Americans, and millions more on both sides suffering from trauma, depression and drug and alcohol addiction.  It also had a major influence on the US public’s willingness to engage in full-scale wars (at least until 9/11).  It also had […](

Most government agencies sign contracts with Hollywood producers when they agree to provide support on a film or TV show. These are called Production Assistance Agreements, and set out the legal terms of the partnership between the government and the production company. In this episode I explore these contracts, how long they've been in effect, and the powers they grant to both parties.