The Militarization of Movies and Television

FEATURED RESEARCH PAPER, 14 Apr 2025

Tanner Mirrlees | Costs of War/Brown University – TRANSCEND Media Service

Consuming War – Looking at the Militarization of Pop Culture

25 Feb 2025 – Costs of War’s Consuming War research series showcases how, every day, Americans are inundated with cultural products promoting militarism. From movies and video games to sporting events, our attention is often captured by messages that glorify combat while obscuring the deadly realities of war. The entertainment we consume obscures the costs of war. It often normalizes the military’s central purpose  — war-making — by framing it as a shared value, preventing reflection about the choices behind the use of the U.S. military, the treatment of military personnel, and the consequences of U.S. militarism. This project examines how the Pentagon influences cultural creations to promote an ever-growing war machine.

When we are aware of how we are consuming cultural messages, we are better able to resist their effects and ask critical questions about how the U.S. engages in the world. Over the coming months, look for Consuming War reports on the militarization of video games, social media, fashion, music, toys, and sports.

Popular entertainment, whether made for the big screen or to be digitally streamed through our television sets and devices, often invites us to escape from the toils and tribulations of the real world. Yet within the fantastical action sequences and dazzling special effects of many entertainment products are military stories scripted and war images made not only by movie and TV screenwriters but also shaped by the Pentagon’s own public affairs officers.

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Tanner Mirrlees is Associate Professor of Communication and Digital Media Studies, Ontario Tech University. Email: tanner.mirrlees@ontariotechu.ca

David Vine, Stephanie Savell, and Mimi Healy are editors of the Consuming War research series.

Go to Original – brown.edu

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