Colin McGuire Week 2: Sahara
I enjoyed watching Sahara as a class. Hollywood did a great job of combining war propaganda and humor into this film. Out of the six categories and themes the government laid out for Hollywood to follow in their movies during WWII, I believe the first two were implemented in Sahara. The issues of the war and the nature of our enemy were the main focus throughout the movie. In the category of the “issue of the war,” Sahara strongly reinforces the reason for fighting is to preserve out freedom and the freedom of others. This quote by Sgt. Joe Gunn, “Do you know why we're able to do it? Because we are stronger than they are...I don't mean in numbers. I mean something else. You see, those men out there never knew the dignity of freedom” is a perfect representation of why our U.S. military was out there fighting in the second world war. They are there to preserve the American way of life that is so different from that of the majority of the Europeans. The movie makes it seem that the Germans fight because they are brainwashed and told to fight, and that the Italians fight alongside the Germans because it was the easy thing to do. This brings me to the second category of the “nature of the enemy: his ideology, objectives, and methods.” Sahara makes a point to clearly show the evil the German possesses. When the Nazi pilot is shot down and captured, by first impression any viewer would be inclined to believe he was a liar and racist. He lies about his ability to speak English and refuses to be searched by an “inferior race.” On the other hand the Italian merely wears the uniform and fights out of fear for the safety of his family. He did not want to help the German sabotage the small band of American and United Nation fighters, but was eager to inform the Americans of the German’s escape once he was literally stabbed in the back.
I believe the movie had a strong rah-rah U.S.A theme to it. The fact that the American Sgt. Wanted to stay at the well and hold off the Germans as long as they could, outnumbered a hundred to one, shows the fight our soldiers possess. Then with the Americans holding back and outwitting the German forces gave a real strong patriotic feel to the viewer.
I believe the movie was a real representation of the reality of racial and ethnic problems that were currently happening in the U.S. Sgt. Major Tambul acted as an inferior to some of the other white officers even though he had a higher rank. There were also no female characters in the film. The only female representation was that of one of the soldier’s sweetheart back home. For me this was a good use of propaganda. It showed that the men were at war out on the front line fighting for their girls and families back home. Also that the women were not fighting, but at home, and should do as much as they can for the men at war because they are out there fighting for them.