This book investigates representations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Hollywood films, and the synergies between Hollywood product, U.S. military/defense interests and U.S. foreign policy. As probably the best known of the many different intelligence agencies of the US, the CIA is an exceptionally well known national and international icon or even brand, one that exercises a powerful influence on the imagination of people throughout the world as well as on the creative minds of filmmakers. The book examines films sampled from five decades - the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s - and explores four main issues: the relative prominence of the CIA; the extent to which these films appeared to be overtly political; the degree to which they were favorable or unfavorable to the CIA; and their relative attitude to the business of intelligence. A final chapter considers the question: do these Hollywood texts appear to function ideologically to normalize the CIA? If so, might this suggest the further hypothesis that many CIA movies assist audiences with reconciling two sometimes fundamental opposites: often gruesome covert CIA activity for questionable goals and at enormous expense, on the one hand, and the values and procedures of democratic society, on the other. This interdisciplinary book will be of much interest to students of the CIA/Intelligence Studies, media and film studies, US politics and IR/Security Studies in general.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Taylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN-10
0415780063
ISBN-13
9780415780063
eBay Product ID (ePID)
104067442
Product Key Features
Book Title
Hollywood and the Cia: Cinema, Defense and Subversion
Author
David Herrera, Oliver Boyd Barrett, James A. Baumann
Format
Hardcover
Language
English
Topic
Film, TV & Radio
Publication Year
2011
Number of Pages
210 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
234mm
Item Width
156mm
Item Weight
476g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
James A. Baumann, Oliver Boyd Barrett, David Herrera