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Lynchehaun, Ross (2013) American cinema after 9/11. PhD thesis http://theses.gla.ac.uk/4268/ Copyright and moral rights for this thesis are retained by the author A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the Author The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the Author When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Glasgow Theses Service http://theses.gla.ac.uk/ [email protected] American Cinema after 9/11 Ross Lynchehaun M.A. Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theatre, Film and Television Studies School of Culture and Creative Arts University of Glasgow April 2012 © Ross Michael Lynchehaun, 2012 i Abstract The terrorist attacks in the United States of September 11, 2001, were unprecedented in the modern era, and they heralded a new era in politics as the Bush Administration pursued rigorous security policies at home and staged military operations in Afghanistan, and subsequently Iraq. Witness testimonies, and newspaper articles in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, revealed that many of those watching coverage of the attacks on television temporarily mistook the reporting for a Hollywood block-buster, an indication that there was some kind of relationship between 9/11 and Hollywood film-making. This thesis contends that films produced in 9/11’s wake were influenced by the attacks and the response that followed, particularly as they demonstrate either an endorsement or challenge to the Bush Administration, and thus can be interpreted politically. This thesis makes specific reference to a number of key issues that demonstrate how Hollywood dealt with 9/11. Firstly, the industry found itself unsure what films were suitable for release in the new context of victimhood; it co-operated with government officials to help in the post-9/11 effort, while many individuals responded to the emergency with fund-raising and other activities. The issue of how Hollywood narrativised the emotional and psychological consequences of the attacks is also addressed with particular focus on how film can act as a memorial. A key feature of both post-9/11 culture and cinema is a fresh apprehension of the real. In this thesis, the issue of ‘the real’ is studied in two distinct areas: realist aesthetics in fiction film, and how the choice of a particular realism has a ii particular ideological significance; and the growth of the documentary feature film. If Hollywood’s attention to realist aesthetics meets a certain need for facts and knowledge in a period of crisis, then the desire to ‘understand’ is also addressed by genre’s treatment of American myth. In the case of post-9/11, focus on the Western demonstrates how the issues of ‘strong’ masculinity and ‘Otherness’ of race, are dealt with by Hollywood. One of the prevailing myths surrounding the official 9/11 story is that the latent heroism of the ordinary American citizen was revealed. Here, post-9/11 heroism is analysed with reference to the numerous films based on comic-books, specifically those featuring superheroes that expose particular psychological phenomena peculiar to post-9/11 America. Finally, the concept of the global nature of 9/11 with reference to how Hollywood deals with American catastrophe in a global context, how an American event is represented by non-American film-makers, and how global events are represented by non-American film-makers but viewed through the paradigm of 9/11 is discussed. This thesis, then, studies the political and ideological functions and implications of American film after 9/11 through discourses of ‘the real’ and key issues of self-censorship, co-operation, victimhood, masculinity, race, repression, trauma, and heroism. iii Table of Contents Abstract....................................................................................................................i Table of Illustrations.................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements..................................................................................................v Author’s Declaration................................................................................................vii Introduction..............................................................................................................1 Chapter 1: 9/11 and Industrial Hollywood...............................................................19 Chapter 2: Emotional and Political Tendencies in Post-9/11 Hollywood Fiction....61 Chapter 3: Realist Aesthetics and Politics................................................................103 Chapter 4: The Resurgence of the Documentary After 9/11....................................148 Chapter 5: Ideology and Mythology in Post-9/11 Westerns.....................................192 Chapter 6: Comic-Books, Cinema and the Psychology of 9/11................................235 Chapter 7: 9/11 and Cinema’s Global Impact...........................................................280 Conclusion.................................................................................................................324 Bibliography..............................................................................................................330 Filmography...............................................................................................................351 iv Table of Illustrations Figure 1: The original Spider Man poster................................................................31 Figure 2: ‘Towers of Light’ memorial in 25th Hour................................................78 Figure 3: Julie Powell at Ground Zero in Julie and Julia........................................86 Figure 4: Scene of urban destruction in War of the Worlds......................................95 Figure 5: Computer-generated Twin Towers in World Trade Center……….........113 Figure 6: Planes of focus observable in United 93..................................................116 Figure 7: Actor pasted on to footage of Pres. Bush in Death of a President...........131 Figure 8: The ‘frog and boiling water’ animation in An Inconvenient Truth...........169 Figure 9: The ‘grid’ device in The Corporation.......................................................171 Figure 10: The ‘wall’ of screens in 9/11: Press for Truth........................................172 Figure 11: The ‘coward’ Robert Ford, an example of ‘soft’ masculinity.................215 Figure 12: ‘Indian’ as ‘pure evil’ – Chidin in The Missing......................................223 Figure 13: Mexican as ‘pure evil’ - Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men....227 Figure 14: Examples of 9/11 Comic-Books.............................................................242 Figure 15: A helpless Spider Man in The Amazing Spider-Man 36……………….245 Figure 16: Crash debris in Superman Returns..........................................................252 Figure 17: Fire-fighters at Ground Zero…………………………………………...252 Figure 18: Boy changes into ‘FDNY’ t-shirt in a 9-11 comic...................................256 Figure 19: Bush et al. on the cover of Der Spiegel in February 2002.......................258 Figure 20: Superheroes with flags of the world........................................................280 Figure 21: Plane crash in Knowing............................................................................294 Figure 22: Samira Makhmalbaf’s short in 11’09”01: September 11........................314 Figure 23: Poster for Syriana.....................................................................................321 v Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisors Ian Craven and Marina Mokowitz: their guidance, suggestions, observations, criticisms, and encouragement never failed to make me feel confident about my dissertation. Thanks also to the students and staff at the Departments of Theatre, Film and Television Studies, in particular Ian Goode and Michael McCann, and American Studies, especially Simon Newman. I would like to offer my appreciation to the American Studies Department for funding my studies through Gordon Studentships. Thanks also to Nick Selby for co-supervising me in my first year, and to Gerardine Meaney, and Mark Shiel who introduced me to Film Studies in the first place, and who encouraged me (and provided references) to pursue a PhD. The Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development at New York University host a Multinational Institute of American Studies each summer which I was lucky enough to attend in June 2009, and I would like to thank the organisers and staff, particularly Philip Hosay, Ali Wood, Ashleigh White, and Karleigh Koster, for the opportunity to both learn more about American history and culture, and to experience New York in the flesh. Thanks also to my fellow students at that course, Rebecca Cobby, Blossom Green, Adam Hallett, Matthew Hill, Andrea Livesey, Adam Quinn, Charlotte Regan, Linda Toocaram, Charlotte Turnbull for enhancing a stimulating experience. I owe a debt of gratitude to my friends, especially Jon Broyles, the Burke family, Enda Callan, Nick Callan, Noel Callan,