How have depictions of World War II changed over time in American pop culture?

Posted 11 May, 2017.

I think a better aspect of this question would be “how has American pop culture changed since World War II?”

For this thought experiment, I am going to take one movie and discuss the reactions of the audience to a modern example in relation to contemporary films. Say we find a way to bring back an audience from 1959, and instead of them watching the newest movie of the time on the subject – The Longest Day – we show them 1998’s Saving Private Ryan. Do you think the crowd from ’59 would react the same way as we did in ‘98? More than likely, the graphic depictions of the Normandy landings would have most of them either fleeing in horror or vomiting from shock – probably even both at the same time. Take the same crowd and show them 2004’s Downfall/Der Untergang or 2006’s Letters From Iwo Jima. Would there be as much appreciation or sympathy for a recent enemy as there is today? Probably not.

So what changed?

We as a society changed, and our views of history have evolved over time. Where we once were happy to watch movies depicting heroic Americans vanquishing the evils of the Axis powers in all of the simplicity of early Hollywood, we now seek a more holistic story. While we are not exactly feeling sorry for the villains today, we certainly make a better effort in portraying them as humans rather than vile caricatures of a comfortable stereotype. Yes, I realize that this point could be argued when it comes to modern examples of Hollywood portraying events in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, but that is a different discussion for a later time, and I am sticking to the Second World War, here… so stay focused.

Along with that, the story has changed a bit more. More details have provided much more of an opportunity to approach the Second World War with a different understanding of the war. While this has allowed for the recycling of specific topics such as D-Day, the same exact story can only be told the same exact way for so long before the interest (and funding) wanes. Off the top of my head, I can think of at least 6 different movies/series which have told different parts of D-Day and the months following it, but they all differ in what their focus is. I would love to see a movie about the Mulberry Harbors or the Red Ball Express, but logistics to the average person is fodder for a good nap.

Finally, Hollywood changed. As the purveyors of American pop culture, Hollywood has had an ear to the ground when it comes to how to bring people into the theaters. Portraying American tankers as Donald Sutherland’s iconic “hippie-turned-armor-commander” from 1970’s Kelly’s Heroes probably would have caused apoplectic fits in those returning from combat in 1945, however, his character “Oddball” made more sense to viewers in 1970 than they would have a quarter-century before. Hollywood would have a hard time pushing any movie today with casual references of “Japs” or “Fritz’s” mostly due to the looming threat of offense-driven litigation.

“How have depictions of World War II changed over time in American pop culture?”

They changed with American society. Whether that is getting softer, dumber, more computer animated, or repetitive is up to the individual reader… To me, it is just a sign of the inevitable process of change over time.