Use of the American flag in film
The other day I was watching The Emperor's Club and really enjoying it. Sure it's a direct rip-off of Dead Poet's Society, but Kevin Kline starred, and I thought his performance was excellent. Anyway, the point is, I was happily watching this so-so film, when the final scene comes along, and there's this lovely wide shot, panning to the right, covering the school grounds, and the camera comes upon a flagpole and an American flag flying brightly in the sky. The film was almost ruined for me at that point!
It's not that I have anything against Americans, or their flag for that matter - I have many friends online who are American who I respect greatly, and the Americans I have met are great people - I just found the insertion of a piece of political imagery inappropriate and incongruous at that point. The film is the story of a teacher and his students, and what becomes of them after the shocking events of one particular year in this private boys school. This story could have been told in any setting - it's really about power, honesty and integrity - and had until that point been devoid of any real location-specific material. Sure, there had been occasional city names mentioned, but I felt the story was stronger when understood as allegory. As such, the artificial and clumsy 'product placement' destroyed the goodwill I was feeling toward the story, and what was being attempted, and rather made me feel this was a morality tale. (And that once again, it's only if you're American that you could possibly relate to it).Do most Americans truly believe that they are the only ones in this wide world who can tell right from wrong? Good from Evil? I doubt it. The people of America are as capable of insight as anyone else, and they're more than able to recognise propaganda. So who is the audience that filmmakers are pandering to when they use such imagery? Why are American films so often reduced to tales of American good versus 'Other' evil, rather than exploring the capacity for good or evil within all of us?
The United States has achieved a world domination second to none in the modern era, not just through military might, but through cultural influence - Australia, Great Britain and other Western nations have adopted American custom and culture without batting an eyelid. McDonald's can be found in Africa, Eastern Europe, Asia... Muslim countries still have KFC, just the Halal version! American film dominates the world of celluloid, except in India which has retained it's sense of cinematic self. (The much vaunted - by us - Australian film industry is spending more time and effort pandering to US productions than ever, and the days of original and 'Australian' films like Strictly Ballroom are long gone, replaced by shoddy sequels to The Matrix and Scooby Doo).
Given the extent to which American culture dominates the world scene, is the insertion of such political imagery in film a necessary evil, or just a maintenance mechanism to ensure we don't all slip back into our loco-regional custom? My feeling is that unfortunately, at times, such blatant parochialism encourages a dislike of America and 'Americanism' by residents of other less fortunate countries. (Which by no means excuses acts of violence against America or her citizens).
So what do you think? Should an American flag appearing in a film provoke such concern? Am I over-reacting? Is this just another form of 'product placement'? You may have other films that used the fluttering American flag that really got your goat. Let us know your thoughts, and we may post them here as an addendum to this discussion, in the interests of all points of view.
Cheers... Mark
Well, we have our first feedback, so here goes...
Actually, I don't have as much faith in the American public as you. I think that on the whole they do see the world as black and white, America The Brave fighting the iniquitous foreigners, be they arab/muslim/soviet, and in fact they are not mature enough as a society to think any other way. The American Flag therefore acts as a surrogate in movies such as this, allowing them to gain understanding (Ooooh, that man must be the goodie...), as anything more subtle than this is completely lost on them. If they truly were capable of more sophisticated thought, movie-makers would not get away with such simple props. Yes, the US has produced the odd broad-minded individual, but they do not intend on making a habit of it. Do not expect to see any less of the stars and stripes as the bludgeoning rhetoric of 'Might is Right' spreads further across the globe. - DS
Ed - bagging Americans was not my intention, DS, more the film-makers who constantly underestimate them, as I fear you do...
User Submitted List of films with inappropriate use of the American Flag:
A Time To Kill, submitted by AO