In Militainment, Inc. War, Media, and Popular Culture, Roger Stahl examines the provocative way in which war is showcased as entertainment in modern American popular culture. Stahl coins the term “militainment”, or the militarization of the entertainment industry. Stahl, assistant professor of speech communication at the University of Georgia, first examined this concept when he wrote, produced, and narrated the documentary film Militainment, Inc.: Militarism and Pop Culture in 2007. He further examined the concept of “militainment” in numerous publications, in addition to this latest work.
Many have written about militarism and the entertainment industry separately, but few have managed to combine both with astute reason. The average American may not realize how often the Department of Defense and Hollywood collaborate on films, but Stahl delves deeper to expose the pervasiveness of militarism virtually everywhere; in sports, reality television, video games, and in capitalism. The utilization of real-life, diverse examples help to easily “open the eyes” of audiences to blatant, but previously unrecognized, realizations about the woven nature of the military and entertainment industry in the United States.
Stahl poignantly opens up with the marriage of militarism and entertainment with the example of landmine warning signs and the opportunity to shoot military grade weapons as a tourist in Cambodia. As an American reader, Stahl knocks the audience off of their feet by showcasing such a “foreign”, unthinkable form of entertainment, only to use the bulk of the book examining American entertainment’s relationship to militarism.
The underlying theme of the book is that audiences should be media literate about the sources of entertainment that they consume. Stahl implies that ideally consumers of this media should be able to acknowledge the notion of a spectacular war, which “describes a social condition infused by images and representations that serve to distract and politically deactivate the masses.” The author focuses on the conception of the “spectacle” with a particular focus post-9/11 in mobilizing the “war on terror.”
With regards to selling war in the early 21st century, Stahl points out three distinct changes in media consumption and the civic experience of war in the United States: 1) “clean” war rhetoric, 2) technofetishism, and 3) “support the troops” rhetoric. Militainment, Inc. War, Media, and Popular Culture suggests that the nature of interactive war has grown with the rise of informational warfare and that acts of consumption have been transformed into acts of support. According to Stahl, the entertainment industry has created modern citizen-soldiers never imagined in previous times. For example, consumption of war is now interactive and Americans are no longer watching, but playing war.
Militainment, Inc. War, Media, and Popular Culture is a highly valuable and insightful work for scholars researching the often-surreptitious relationship between the Pentagon and entertainment in shaping public opinion. While it may only be applicable to the culture and media consumption of contemporary Americans, I would highly recommend this book to anyone studying American society and government affairs with regards to views on militarism or the military industrial complex.
CAROLINE LAND
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
Many have written about militarism and the entertainment industry separately, but few have managed to combine both with astute reason. The average American may not realize how often the Department of Defense and Hollywood collaborate on films, but Stahl delves deeper to expose the pervasiveness of militarism virtually everywhere; in sports, reality television, video games, and in capitalism. The utilization of real-life, diverse examples help to easily “open the eyes” of audiences to blatant, but previously unrecognized, realizations about the woven nature of the military and entertainment industry in the United States.
Stahl poignantly opens up with the marriage of militarism and entertainment with the example of landmine warning signs and the opportunity to shoot military grade weapons as a tourist in Cambodia. As an American reader, Stahl knocks the audience off of their feet by showcasing such a “foreign”, unthinkable form of entertainment, only to use the bulk of the book examining American entertainment’s relationship to militarism.
The underlying theme of the book is that audiences should be media literate about the sources of entertainment that they consume. Stahl implies that ideally consumers of this media should be able to acknowledge the notion of a spectacular war, which “describes a social condition infused by images and representations that serve to distract and politically deactivate the masses.” The author focuses on the conception of the “spectacle” with a particular focus post-9/11 in mobilizing the “war on terror.”
With regards to selling war in the early 21st century, Stahl points out three distinct changes in media consumption and the civic experience of war in the United States: 1) “clean” war rhetoric, 2) technofetishism, and 3) “support the troops” rhetoric. Militainment, Inc. War, Media, and Popular Culture suggests that the nature of interactive war has grown with the rise of informational warfare and that acts of consumption have been transformed into acts of support. According to Stahl, the entertainment industry has created modern citizen-soldiers never imagined in previous times. For example, consumption of war is now interactive and Americans are no longer watching, but playing war.
Militainment, Inc. War, Media, and Popular Culture is a highly valuable and insightful work for scholars researching the often-surreptitious relationship between the Pentagon and entertainment in shaping public opinion. While it may only be applicable to the culture and media consumption of contemporary Americans, I would highly recommend this book to anyone studying American society and government affairs with regards to views on militarism or the military industrial complex.
CAROLINE LAND
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill