Life Impact The University of Adelaide Slide 1

ANZCA 2011: MEDIA & CITIZENSHIP7th July, 2011

“Yippee ki-yay, al-Qaeda! 9/11 and its effects on the Hollywood cinematic mediation of

terrorism.”

Presented by:Jay W. Reid, B.Media (Hons)The University of Adelaide

Life Impact The University of Adelaide

WHY STUDY TERRORISM?• Not the first ever terrorist

attack, BUT...

• This single act forever changed human history (Dixon, 2004; Giroux, 2004: 9; Young, 2007)

• Scale of attacks could not be comprehended (Aretxaga, 2001: 140; Dixon, 2004a: 9; Muntean, 2009; Rich, 2001)

• World now split into pre- and post-9/11 (Young, 2007: 44)

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WHY STUDY TERRORISM IN FILMS?

• First site of mediation, and most appropriate medium to explore the events of 9/11 (Schoop & Hall, 2009: 13; Young, 2007: 31)

• Industry has forever been changed:– Release dates changed– WTC removed– Accuracy & realism > special effects– Villains quickly changed

• Films able to shape public opinion, especially considering reach and distribution of Hollywood productions (Shaheen, 1987: 148-56; 2001: 1, 5-11, 30; 2003a: 171-6; 2003b: 80; 2008: xvi-xxii, 18-9, 42-3)

• Currently large gaps in academic literature!

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WHY STUDY DIE HARD?

• Not the first terrorist movie by any means...

• BUT:– Hugely successful– Redefined the genre– ‘Culturally significant’– (Crawford, 2007: 44;

Parshall, 1991; Stilwell, 1997: 551-4)

• Franchise has been focus of little academic research

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TERRORISM WAVE THEORY (1)• Proposed by David C.

Rapoport in 2004• Divides history of terrorism

in 4 waves• Each lasts ~40 years before

being replaced• Waves have differing

motivations, techniques and targets

• Some opposition to theory, though supported by empirical evidence

• Considered best model (Kurtulus, 2011: 484)

• Possibility of a 5th wave in 2025

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1st Wave: Anarchists

2nd Wave: Nationalists

3rd Wave: Leftist/Marxist

4th Wave: Religious

5th Wave: ???

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TERRORISM WAVE THEORY (2)

• (Rasler & Thompson, 2009: 31)

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Wave Primary strategy Target identity Precipitant Special

characteristics

Anarchists1870-1910s

Elite assassinations, bank robberies

Primarily European states

Failure/slowness of political reform

Developed basic terror strategies

Nationalists1920-1960s

Guerrilla attacks on police & military targets

European empirePost-1919 delegtimization of empire

Increased international support

Leftist/Marxist1960-1980s

Hijackings, kidnappings & assassinations

Governments; increases US focus

Viet Cong successIncreased international training & funding

Religious1970-2020s

Suicide bombings & attacks

U.S., Israel & secular Muslim populations

Iranian Revolution, USSR withdrawal form Afghanistan

Casualty escalation, decline in number of groups

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THE TERRORISTS• Motivation

– All after financial gain, BUT...– Secular religious/ideological objectives

• Structure– Vertical hierarchy deniable cells

• Composition– All teams are multi-national (post-2nd wave)– Women appear in 4th but not 3rd wave, opposite to Wave

Theory. Why?

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THE ATTACKS

• Methods– Kidnappings weapons of mass destruction– Closely follow contemporary terror attacks

• Reach & Escalation– Dozens hundreds thousands billions/trillions

• Timing– Christmas holidays Labour Day weekend

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THE HERO

• Representation of law enforcement & the press– Negative Positive– Need for public support

(Reid & Cover, 2010)

• Portrayal– While John McClane has

barely changed...

• Duty– ... the reasons why he

fights terrorism have

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CONCLUSIONS

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• Terrorism, in particular 9/11, is an important area of study

• Films mediate events & shape understanding

• Rapoport’s model is adhered to by Hollywood

• While 9/11 didn’t mark a change in terrorism, it marked a change in it’s cinematic representation

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QUESTIONS?

And thank you for your time.

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Life Impact The University of Adelaide

REFERENCES & WORKS CITED• Aretxaga, Begoña (2001). "Terror as Thrill: First Thoughts on the 'War on Terrorism'". Anthropological Quarterly 75.1: 138-150.

• Crawford, Amy (2007). "Q&A". Smithsonian 39.6: 44.

• Dixon, Wheeler Winston (2004). "Introduction: Something Lost - Films after 9/11". Film and Television After 9/11. Ed: Dixon, Wheeler

Winston. 2004: 1-28.

• Giroux, Henry (2004). "Terrorism and the fate of democracy after September 11". Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies 2.1,

2004: 9-14.

• Kurtulus, Ersun N. (2011). "The “New Terrorism” and its Critics". Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 34.6: 476-500.

• Parshall, P.F. (1991). "Die Hard and the American mythos". Journal of Popular Film & Television 18.4.

• Rasler, Karen & Thompson, William R. (2009). "Looking for Waves of Terrorism". Terrorism and Political Violence 21: 28-41.

• Reid, Jay & Cover, Rob (2010). "The Art of War Reporting: Theorising Contemporary Embedded Journalism as Public Discourse".

Reconstructions: Studies in Contemporary Culture 10.4.

• Rich, B. Ruby (2001). "Back to the future". The Nation 15 Oct. 2001: 44-45.

• Schoop, Andrew & Hill, Matthew (2009). "Introduction: The curious knot." The War on Terror and American Popular Culture. Eds:

Schopp, Andrew & Hill, Matthew. Cranbury: Associated UP: 11-44.

• Stilwell, Robynn J. (1997). "'I Just Put a Drone under Him...': Collage and Subversion in the Score of 'Die Hard'". Music & Letters 78.4:

551-80.

• Young, Alison (2007). "Images in the Aftermath of Trauma: Responding to September 11th". Crime Media Culture 3.1: 30-48.

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