Sahara Reflection
I think that Sahara did a great job representing most of the categories set forth by the government, for films. One of the most prominent in the film was “The Nature of the Enemy.� In the film the Germans were seen as horrible almost inhuman. The German that was captured was unwilling to cooperate with his captives and did what he could to make his capture very difficult. When negotiating terms for water, the German commander was willing to sacrifice the well being of his own men then try to work with the other side. Also, when “Frenchy� was sent to give the terms from his commander, the Germans shot him in the back while he was leaving. The Italian character showed that the Italians were tricked into thinking that the war would be good for their country and the people. After the war started many began to disagree with Mussolini and no longer wanted to fight. They looked as if they were victims and forced into the war. Two of the other more prominent categories focused on were “The Fighting Front� and “The United Forces.� It showed the many hardships that our fighting forces suffered. It also showed the undying spirit of the allied forces. They never gave up and did what they could even when they really had no chance. When the Americans found the British soldiers, neither side seemed to agree much with the other. Despite their differences, as the movie moved on, both sides really became friends. Because there were characters that represented many of the major allies in the movie; the audience could see that even though the many differences of the countries, we could all united and fight for good. Overall it was a good movie and although I think it had many of the elements for primarily a propaganda piece we can still watch it today and look at it as an entertaining WWII film.
As far as racial and ethnic makeup was interesting. The American commander seemed to have some stereotypes when talking to some of the characters. I found it interesting the representation of the black character. He fought alongside everyone and he was valuable to everyone. He was not given any different tasks then the rest of the soldiers. I think the united group of men from different areas, countries, and ethnicity was Hollywood’s more subtle way of fighting some stereotypes. I also think that it showed that many of the soldiers really did not care who they were fighting alongside because they were all fighting for the same thing.
Grant Flatgard