Commentary and links relating to media coverage of war; both before, during, and after.
|
William A. Dorman is Professor of Government at California State University, Sacramento, and has taught a course in War, Peace and the Mass Media since 1970.
Web Page
U.S. Foreign Policy Blog
E-Mail: dormanw at csus.edu
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
War, Peace, and the Mass Media
|
|
| |
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Two Allies, Two Angles
New Film in Turkey, America's '24' Reflect Uneasy Relations, Divergent Perspectives
By Karl Vick
Washington Post Foreign Service
February 14, 2006; A12
Blog editor's note: While this blog focuses mostly on the performance of American news and entertainment media, we occasionally turn our attention to foreign media. The article that follows indicates that the U.S. has a significant global problem with its image as a result of the Iraq war. Keep in mind that Turkey has long been an ally of the U.S. Keep in mind also that this film is opening in Europe this week.
ISTANBUL -- In "Valley of the Wolves: Iraq," U.S. soldiers shoot small children at point-blank range, harvest kidneys from Iraqi prisoners for shipment to Tel Aviv, blow a Muslim cleric out of his minaret and, to top it all off, display utter contempt for Turkish foreign policy. The feature film set a box office record in its first weekend, after opening in more theaters than any movie in Turkish history.
Meanwhile, the American television series "24" did not open at all in Turkey last fall, despite high ratings over the three previous seasons for agent Jack Bauer and the swashbuckling Counter-Terrorist Unit. The problem: In season four, the terrorists intent on destroying America were Turks.
"It's kind of like firing missiles at each other!" Yasar Aktas said of the pop culture war now playing between the United States and Turkey. The unemployed cook was one of 1.75 million people who saw "Valley of the Wolves" in its first six days in Turkey. It opened last week in Europe, where the U.S. Army issued a notice warning U.S. service members to stay away from affected multiplexes and "to avoid getting into discussions about the movie with people you don't know."
To read the full text, see Washington Post
8:34 AM
|
|
| |
|
|
|
