Film impact and use during the Korean War

Starting from World War I and progressing to the present film has taken an active

role in delivering messages to its viewers. Whether through propaganda, subliminal messaging or other methods, film has served many purposes during times of crisis. Here we will examine the particular uses and effectiveness of motion pictures during and post-Korean War.

Korean war film holds a strong historical value and while still offering entertainment

to its audience film from this period can serve to highlight many war horrors. The unfortunate truth is that film during this time often failed to a) remain unbiased and b) expose all sides and opinions of a given story. War to this day remains one of the strongest controversies and hence is portrayed in many different fashions in film. The controversy within war issues may provide a reason for the inability of producers to expose equal (or balanced) sides of war stories. When we take a look at popular Cold War film it becomes obvious that these films are not entirely factual, but they are effective in bringing issues to the forefront. Take, for example, The Manchurian Candidate. Prior to this motion picture, ideas and speculations regarding mind control had circulated as a result of China’s revolutionary leader Mao who employed the methods in an effort to achieve political reforms and succeed in battle. These origins of mind control continued with Chinese communists who during the Korean War attempted to brainwash captive American soldiers into abandoning their country. These ideas of mind control were further exposed with the release of US author Richard Condon’s novel in 1959 entitled The Manchurian Candidate. This was the first novel to explore such a concept and was quickly transcribed to film in the 1962 adaptation starring Frank Sinatra.

The Manchurian Candidate (1962) is set during the Korean War and centralizes around the brainwashing of a US Soldier, Sgt. Raymond Shaw. Shaw is brainwashed in Manchuria to gain public respect as a fake hero and later on assassinate a political leader who is running for President alongside himself. Though this is a dramatization of events from the actual Korean War, it holds true to the concept of mind control as an attempted method to succeed in battle.

The film addresses an issue that may have seemed far-fetched to many traditionalists during this time period, but there is irrefutable proof that types of mind control experimentation did take place. A documentary by National Geographic identifies some of the conditions and processes test subjects were exposed to during the Cold War[1]. Ken Earl, a Senior Aircraftsman for the Royal Air Force, was a volunteer for an experiment he believed was aimed to help find a cure for the common cold. He was unaware that scientists were in fact testing to determine lethal doses of Sarin, a nerve agent deposited on the surface of the skin. Experiments such as this were common during times of war and reflected a constant need for growing knowledge.

Mind control feeds off of mental weakness[2], which make soldiers viable candidates for experimentation due to mental ruin caused by warfare. The use of soldiers as opposed to regular people exemplifies this. Also one can imagine that being out in the trenches and fighting over long periods of time events would start to blur together and sometimes be forgotten. Soldiers returning from war were often diagnosed with depression and/or paranoia, which only increased their qualifications for brainwash experimentation.

The irony of mind control depiction in the film industry is that this method arguably exists today within the films themselves. Consumers are brainwashed with concepts of what a perfect life is, what perfect romance is and what it means to be happy. Though it is a much less literal take on brainwashing, it is nonetheless ever so present and continuing to grow. The prevalence of brainwashing outside of film also exists in modern society in cases such as Elizabeth Smart, who claimed to be brainwashed during her kidnapping.

But the film goes much further than this one large issue. Thomson Gale writes in an evaluative essay:

The [Manchurian Candidate] offers a twisted overview of the whole period—a reflection on the cynicism of the domestic politics of the time, on the anxiety at the fragility of individual will, and on the nature of paranoia.[3]

Audiences were vulnerable and fearful of their surroundings during this time, and this film exposed issues that had not yet been publicly explored. This is an example of how film during the Korean War served to put a spotlight on subjects that people were forced to pay attention to. In this case, the subjects were uncomfortable truths of war.

The social impacts of this type of exposure are always gruelling but I would say it is a necessary process. It comes down to the choice between a frightened yet aware public and a comfortable yet unaware public. Filmmakers, including John Frankenheimer (producer of The Manchurian Candidate,) hold the power to influence the level of exposure the public has towards these ‘frightening’ issues. If the movies are never made, there is no opportunity for the exposure. The Manchurian Candidate saw limited circulation upon its initial release because of its coinciding with the assassination of J.F.K. Themes resonating from the film were chillingly related to the assassination and so the film was promptly removed from the market. When re-released in 1988, the film received a very different reaction from its audience. In an interview with journalist Scott Tobias, Frankenheimer discusses how timeliness can affect an audience:

Certainly in 1962 or '63, the picture was something that attacked McCarthyism and was very effective then, because we lived with it. I think the only difference is that in 1988, the audience knew it was okay to laugh. But in 1962, everyone took McCarthy so goddamned seriously because they were right there to witness it. I think the other thing, too, is that it's easier to say great things about something that's in the past than to embrace something new. It's safe. [Critics] can say, "Oh, God, this picture's wonderful!" and so forth. It's harder to do that when it's new. [4]

McCarthyism in its most basic form means acts of disloyalty, mostly through acceptance of communism. Obviously an American portrayal of a communist during this era of war would be a negative one, and so any attack on McCarthyism was widely encouraged by US citizens.

While The Manchurian Candidate appropriately links film to war in a historic and serious way, the Cold War also brought forth a time of comedic film relief. Motion pictures such as Doctor Strangelove and MASH strengthened a genre of dark war comedy. These two examples of film during the Korean War still addressed themes of substance, however they were written in a manner that allowed people to laugh with a less ‘in-your-face’ approach. Many people are familiar with the television series MASH, the film based on this series from 1970 is set during the Korean War but has little correlation as it mirrors the confusion of Vietnam[5]. Doctor Strangelove covers nuclear weaponry in its plot with an uncommon twist. Both of these films contributed to presentation of war as a more approachable topic. This is integral to both the industry of film and of war itself, because peoples’ interest in warfare began to increase with the success of this genre. While MASH may not have been the most honest depiction of trench conditions it gave the subject a ‘relatability’ for viewers.

Author Ronnie D. Lipchutz said in his book Cold War Fantasies: Film, Fiction and Foreign Policy that “[…] the very concept of brainwashing was probably another response to the social changes following World War II.” [6] Society continues to adapt, whether positively or negatively can be argued, to the changes it is subject to. Film found ways to transform the unapproachable themes and topics of the Korean War into less intimidating ones, and other times film forced people to face the hard issues. War film informed, educated and entertained. War generated a booming and fresh genre for motion pictures, which stimulated the economy during times of crisis. We have film to thank for the documentation of events during the Korean War, so that people today can look back and learn from what surpassed on battle terrains and in trenches. We have film to thank for forcing us to overcome fears of the unknown. We can only hope this industry develops in new ways that will continue to enhance our knowledge of the world and our visual experiences.


References

[1] CIA Mind Control [Video File] (2008, March 06). Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUW-frxo2X4&NR=1&feature=fvwp

[2] Singer, M.T (n.d.) How Does Mind Control Work?. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from http://www.factnet.org/rancho1.htm

[3] Gale, T. (2005) The Manchurian Candidate Summary. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from http://www.bookrags.com/research/the-manchurian-candidate-sjpc-03/

[4] Tobias, S. (2000). Interview John Frankenheimer. Retrieved November 30, 2010, from http://www.avclub.com/articles/john-frankenheimer,13639/

[5] Wikipedia (2010). MASH (film). Retrieved November 30, 2010, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MASH_(film)

[6] Lipschutz, R.D. (2001). Cold War Fantasies: Film, Fiction and Foreign Policy. (First ed.). Oxford, EN: Rowmand & Littlefield

Kelli Zacharopoulos