Jose Duran

Professor Schulze

Research Paper

December 6th, 2020

Sociopolitics In Film: Exploring The Cold War Through Cinema

INTRODUCTION

On October 22, 1962, the world stood still as President John F. Kennedy addressed what

would be known as the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The cold war had reached a climax where

two of the world’s leading powers were one step away from nuclear war. With the invention of

the TV, information became more accessible and news would spread across the globe in a matter

of days. The conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union fighting for capitalism and

communism respectively was being televised. The United States was aware of the power the

media had so they acted accordingly to manipulate and influence others to promote their ideals.

The utilization of media such as TV to instill fear of communism into the homes of Americans

was only one way the United States “contained” communism.

This era was known as the Cold War. A forty-year battle between the United States of

America and the Soviet Union over capitalism and communism. The war itself was not physical

and did not result in an all-out war. It was a competition to see which world power could change

other countries to follow their ideals. With the rise in technological advances, spreading

information was easier than ever. Both countries used technology to the best of their ability to

sabotage the other. One of those tools was the media, more specifically films. Films were still

new in the entertainment scene and so people naturally went to theatres on the weekend to watch

the newest films. To their knowledge, these films were just films purely to entertain them and
have a good time. However, the films did so much more than just bring out a laugh or tear, they

were filled with messages and ideas that could sway opinions and provide a mold for thoughts

and beliefs.

Cinemas and drive-in theatres were a common family activity on the weekends for

Americans at the end of the 1950s and throughout the 1960s. The films being produced near the

beginning of the cold war were overall anticommunist and focused on villainizing Russians and

anything related to communism. As time passed by there was a shift in the film industry where

movies began representing society itself and showing society concerning politics. This paper

looks forward to answering, How did the film industry affect American society during the cold

war in the 1960s, and did American society influence cinema, if so, how?

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

To reach a better understanding of American society during the cold war, the paper

begins by providing a historical background of the main historical events that occurred prior to,

during, and after the 1960s. This paper researches and analyzes secondary sources within the

historical context to derive the culture of American society during the cold war concerning

gender. The secondary sources will serve as context and support for the primary source analysis

of the film, “From Russia With Love” from the James Bond Franchise. The primary analysis will

be done to analyze society standards and norms being represented in the film “From Russia With

Love” and compare to the sociopolitical climate in which the movie premiered which was

provided by the secondary source analysis. With the primary analysis, the paper will be able to

explain how films began as forms of spreading propaganda in the form of entertainment, and

over time the industry evolved and separated itself from political agendas to instead make

statements on the current structure of society while maintaining a neutral stance in politics.
 The tensions between communism and capitalism can be traced before the cold war even

begun. During the first world war in the United States, there was an event known as the “ red

scare”. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 occurred in Russia where the common folk and

citizens of Russia took Tsar Nicholas II out of power. As a result of the revolution, the

revolutionaries established the Union of Soviet Socialist republics (The Soviet Union) by 1922.

Consequently, the United States began to fear the rise of communism as they believed that

“widespread labor unrest was a sign that Soviet ideology was permeating the United States”.

This irrational fear of communism spreading in the United States was due to the belief that

communism would ruin their western lifestyles and take away their freedom. Due to the “red

scare,” the US did not want to recognize the soviet union as a legitimate country. This grew

distrust between the countries that will build up over two decades and result in what we know as

the Cold war.

Right before the Cold War began, the United States and Russia were both allies who

fought against Nazi Germany during World War II. However, before the world war ended there

was already turmoil between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The soviet union as a result of

defeating Germany now occupied the vast majority of western Europe and wanted to create

friendly communist governments. Meanwhile, the United States believed that those countries

deserved the freedom to choose their government without anyone intervening. In 1944, Winston

Churchill broke into the soviet union’s secret communications and began learning of the soviet’s

plan to spread communism and use “communist poles” to set a network of communist regimes.

Winston’s intelligence reports were right and the soviets began guiding other countries and

forming communist regimes as soon as the World war had ended. The United States quickly

learned of the Soviet’s plan and so they began setting up their intelligence post in Berlin to spy
and intercept soviet communications by 1955. It suddenly became a competition on who can

spread their ideas to other countries.

The United States implemented a “containment policy”. This policy was made to stop the

spread of communism without using any sort of military force against Russia. This was issued to

prevent another potential world war which without a doubt end up in a nuclear battle between the

two countries. Both the United States and Russia had nuclear warheads ready to fire at any

instant. Engaging in a full out war would result in mutually assured destruction. A term meaning

both countries would use their nuclear power to fire at each other destroying both countries, a

case where nobody will win. Although both world powers knew this could happen they

continued to further develop their military and this led to the arms race between the Soviet Union

and the United States.

While all of this was happening on the other side of the world, within the United States

society as well changed and was influenced by the cold war. The government of the United

States feared communism would bleed into American culture so they began using methods of

propaganda to manipulate and influence public opinions and beliefs through the main forms of

communication. Propaganda is not objective meaning it does not just provide information to the

public, behind every poster or ad there are hidden meanings and a twist to the information being

spread. The United began hanging posters in the streets warning the public of communism and

the dangers of communism spreading in the United States. With the rise in technological

advances spreading information was easier than ever. Radio, TV, and cinema were all new forms

of information outlets during the heat of the Cold war. The United States exploited these outlets

by supporting films and media that promoted capitalism while antagonizing communists and

Russians to fight communism within the United States. The fear of nuclear war and losing all
capitalist values to communism facilitated swaying public opinion and manipulation of the

population’s beliefs and roles in society through popular media outlets, specifically film.

However, society during each decade of the cold war was different and there were

noticeable shifts in societal norms which were demonstrated through films. This was due to the

changes in the state of the cold war.

In the 50s, the cold war was mostly preparing for any possible war and containing

communism to the best of the United States’ ability. The destructive power of nuclear bombs was

feared across the entire world and everyone knew the consequences of a nuclear war. Therefore,

the United States during the 50s entered a state of “containment policy” and avoiding communist

values in the states rather than going head to head with Russia. Capitalist views and ideas were at

an all-time high as fear of communism grew. When it came to gender, men were expected to go

out and work while women were to stay home and take care of the children. If any gender acted

outside of their gender roles, they would have been looked down upon and shunned. Citizens

conformed to norms and followed societal standards for a capitalist society to avoid being

targetted as communist/traitors.

In the 60s, the United States changed its approach to the cold war and attempted to lower

the tension between the two countries. One event that caused this shift was the Cuban missile

crisis of 1962. In short, Russia had installed warheads in Cuba in October 1962 and the United

States’ spy planes captured pictures demonstrating Russia doing so. In response, the United

States pointed its missiles in Turkey towards Russia and took a defensive stance. The tension

lasted 13 days in which nuclear war seemed inevitable, but both countries eventually came to an

agreement, and the crisis was over. It was in the 60s where the tension between the countries

began to die down to a certain extent due to the fear of nuclear war. Gender roles were affected
by this era as Men were now expected to be dominant and manly while women were to be

submissive and provide care for their families.

Then came the 70s were Russia and the United States entered proxy wars and tried to

prevent each other from “controlling” the other countries. The majority of the United States

population was completely against the country’s participation in proxy wars and wanted the U.S.

to stop intervening in the international affairs of other countries. American society went through

various changes in the 70s as gender norms were starting to be challenged by men and women

alike. Women were becoming more independent and strived for more than being a homemaker.

However, the general norms still stood firm and tall.

The 80s came by and the tension once again grew as the United States entered a

conservative state where communism was being antagonized again and fear of communism rose.

With the election of Ronald Raegan, a republican, the government took a conservative stance.

The Raegan administration wanted to defeat Russia in the cold war and he did so by

implementing the rollback doctrine in which Raegan supported anti-communist insurgents in

other countries such as Nicaragua and Afghanistan. The U.S. took advantage of Russia’s unstable

economy and forced Russia to keep spending its budget on its military to destabilize the country.

As a result of a republican conservative government, society started to undo the changes that it

went through during the 70s. The old family dynamic of working male and stay-at-home female

was brought back into society and was being promoted all over the nation.

The cold war went through different shifts throughout its span. Each stage of the cold war

had its influence on the population and so it can be assumed that the film industry was also

inadvertently affected and it too had an impact on the ideas and beliefs being spread through the

films during that era.

 ANALYSIS

The film industry from the start of the cold war in 1946 to 1965 was all heavy in terms of

anti-communist content. Film producers and actors during the beginning of the cold war were

fearful of being labeled as communists and so the films during that era were biased towards

capitalism and highlighted the western lifestyle. America’s goal to contain communism led to the

utilization of their influence and power to manipulate the media. The government’s involvement

in the production of films highlights the methods being utilized to spread propaganda.

Scholars illustrate the influence of different informative outlets and their ability to

manipulate public opinion in America to support the government’s anti-communist agenda. For

instance; Matin Modarresi claims minor details are important to the meaning of the information

being spread to the public. Modarressi explores the design of postage stamps during the cold war

in the United States to expose how small details like a postage stamp can carry so much

information and bring attention to public issues. In his essay, Modarressi makes a call-to-action,

stating that “stamps often provide useful information about policy”; therefore, even small details

can not be overlooked and should be carefully observed. Donna Alvah agrees and claims that

other forms of information such as TV and newspapers have the power to steer and construct the

mentality of children. Alvah begins her argument by bringing to light the cartoons and

animations on children’s TV during the cold war. She highlights how the cartoons rather than

being entertaining they were informative and similar to propaganda. Also, Alvah demonstrates

newspapers with graphic photographs of children in Vietnam who were being affected by the war

to substantiate her claim that these media outlets were influencing the ideologies of the public

and manipulating public opinion to increase the support for anti-communism. The government’s
influence was first noticed in small media such as newspapers and stamps but later progressed to

much bigger media such as film

Scholars have claimed the government’s interest in media began in communications

research and then proceeded to permeate the film industry. Umaru Bah argues that the research in

developing communications was a manifestation of a government issue policy to counter the

Soviets through the use of propaganda. Bah’s article investigates propaganda and development in

communications between 1950 and 1970 to pinpoint research in communications as the cause for

a major change in the cold war climate. Bah uses a primary source that explains how the United

States Department of State funded Daniel Lerner’s research to “identify vulnerable audience

segments within the Middle East populations and then to target VOA propaganda messages at

these groups.” Daniel Leab agrees with Umaru Bah’s notion that the government was highly

invested in communications and Leab adds to this argument by exploring the CIA’s involvement

with the film ‘Animal Farm’. Daniel Leab tracks the development of the film and how the idea of

filming the movie began. Leab investigates every person who was important to the development

of the film and explores how they came to be involved in the film. Leab’s findings lead to the

conclusion that the CIA was involved with the early production of “Animal Farm” to spread

propaganda through cinema.

Other scholars discuss the ongoing anti-communist messages in films through the

utilization of geopolitics. Klaus Dodds for example; claims that geopolitics are implemented in

films to make a statement and highlight key components of the film to fully convey a message.

Dodds studies the James Bond film franchise and analyzes the setting in James Bond films. His

research findings conclude that the countries and places in which the James Bond films took

place were all intentional and attempting to convey realism and parallel to what was happening
in real life during the cold war. He also concluded that the settings were spreading the message

that the countries under communist rule were dangerous to push anti-communist agendas. Hye

Seung Chung and David Scott Diffrient concur with Dodds in the notion that minor details such

as setting and culture being portrayed in a film can complement ideologies and strengthen the

message. Chung and Diffrient take a similar approach to Dodds in the sense that they also study

a film concerning culture and setting. Chung and Diffrient study the film, “It’s A Big

Country”(1951) where they conclude that the film intentionally puts certain cultures and

exaggerates the stories being told with a purpose to portray America as united and happy. Chung

and Diffrient highlight how the film portrays the lives of African American families to illustrate

that America acknowledges the race issues and is working towards fixing them. They conclude

that the film attempts to gather approval from other countries and further increase the chances

those countries will remain or change to democracy rather than support communism.

Religion and Gender were major components during the cold war to push propaganda in

America according to scholars. In particular, Tony Shaw studies religion in films and its

portrayal of capitalism. Shaw highlights how Christianity and religion can be linked to capitalism

as they share common ideologies and films exploited this detail to link atheists with communism

and creating a link between the two to fight against communist views and ideas. Shaw concludes

that religion was a powerful tool in propaganda during the cold war and set standards for society

to follow. Similarly, Olieg Riabov agrees and investigates gender norms and standards during the

cold war. Riabov focuses on films’ portrayal of masculinity and femininity in America and the

Soviet Union. Riabov sheds light on the fact that these films linked capitalist ideologies with

American gender norms and portrayed them as more attractive than the norms in the Soviet
Union. Riabov’s result concludes that films used gender expectations and portrayed them far

more appealing to further idolize capitalism and villainize communism or vice versa.

During the 1960s the cinematic scene began to shift its purpose and approach to

filmmaking. According to other scholars, not all forms of media were necessarily trying to be

strictly anti-communist or pro-capitalist and there were several instances where media outlets

criticized or questioned the cold war. For example; Tony Shaw claims that there was a turning

point in the movie industry during the 60s where many films did not choose a side and stayed

neutral in the conflict of the cold war. Tony Shaw studies the film, “The Russians Are Coming,

The Russians Are Coming” (1966). Shaw highlights how the film used satire and other devices

to criticize and question the morale behind the conflict between the Soviets and America. Shaw

concludes that the 60s represented a shift in Hollywood’s stance on the cold war and it was

reflected in many of its films. Alexander Federov would agree with Shaw and add that some

films took a sympathetic and empathetic approach to both American and Soviet lives in films.

Federov’s article studies a Film, “White Nights'', where he claims Russians are not portrayed as

“Evil” but simplifies the characters to simply being human. Federov claims the film

demonstrates Hollywood films were sharing a narrative and questioning the current political

climate at the time.

At the start of the decade in 1962, the iconic franchise of agent 007 came into existence,

and with it also came James Bond. James Bond is a British spy who goes on adventures to save

the world from an evil organization called SPECTRE. Although the films premiered before the

turning point in cinema (1965) one film, “From Russia with Love” demonstrates the subtle

changes in film that led up to the major turning point in cinema.

 The James Bond franchise premiered during the 1960s portraying and glorifying

capitalist ideals and customs. The James Bond films had masculine male leads and

oversexualized women. During that time in American society, men were expected to work and

bring money home meanwhile women were expected to be homemakers and please their

husbands. These guidelines were followed and held up as the golden rule in American society

throughout the 60s. The film at face value emphasizes capitalism yet reflects society's

expectations in gender as well through the representation of Russians and gender.

The James Bond films gained massive popularity and success in the anti-communist

United States. The films revolve around James Bond, a spy for British intelligence, who fights

against a Russian organization, SPECTRE. At face value, the films are simply action-packed

thrillers with spies and high technology. However, in one of the films, “From Russia With Love”,

the difference in the portrayal of Russians and the British is peculiar. The film conveys Russians

as inherently evil. The plot antagonizes the Soviet Union by developing a stereotype of Russians

for the audience to internalize. By doing so the audience will subconsciously create an idea that

“Russians are bad guys and we are good guys”. Meanwhile, the British are portrayed as heroes.

The main character of the film is James Bond, a handsome male with very masculine qualities.

These qualities are a standard for men to follow and women to idolize during the 60s. The film

has clear roles for men and women that reflect societal standards and structure. It is no

coincidence that both the Russians and the British are being portrayed in this manner. The film’s

method of antagonizing the Soviet Union plays right into the United States agenda in the fight

against communism. Considering the political climate at the time of the movie’s release, the film

serves as a way to demonstrate societal standards and biases against the Soviet Union by

glorifying characteristics portrayed by James bond while villainizing Russians and their features.
 The portrayal of the protagonist who is a British capitalist is much different than the

Russian portrayal. James Bond, the hero of the film is portrayed as a witty, masculine, lady’s

man who outsmarts the enemy and always comes out as the winner. James Bond throughout the

movie has multiple encounters with a woman where typically the woman is serving him and

showing deep interest. James Bond reflects society’s expectations for American men during the

1960s where men were sexually dominant and expected to take control of romantic relationships.

For example, in one scene, James Bond meets with Tatiana Romanova to discuss a soviet

decoding device, but Tatiana seems to not care about business and wants to simply converse with

James about their relationship. Meanwhile, James stays on topic and simply wants the

information regarding the device. As Tatiana begins discussing information about the device she

casually says, “James, James will you make love to me all the time in England” and James

quickly replies, “ Day and night, go on about the mechanism”. Tatiana is portrayed as submissive

and willing to do whatever James Bond requires she does while James demonstrates dominance

and strong character. The scene serves as a statement on expectations for genders in a capitalist

society. Women according to the movie should be submissive and follow men’s orders without

question; meanwhile, men are expected to be assertive and assume control in their relationships

with women. During the 1960s the family dynamic revolved around men being the

“bread-winners” and women catering to their husband’s needs. The film serves as a form of

highlighting gender norms in a capitalist society.

James Bond’s masculinity is highlighted by purposefully putting him in difficult

situations to convey that no matter the situation, Jame Bond will not yield to the enemy, making

a statement about capitalism versus communism. Near the end of the film, James Bond
unknowingly meets one of his enemies, a mercenary named Red Grant. Red Grant was able to

deceive Bond as he took another agent’s identity to pass as his ally and get closer to Bond. Grant

drugs Tatiana and gets the upper hand on Bond as he knocks him out with a pistol whip to the

back of the head. However, James Bond remains calm and nonchalant after regaining conscience

and initiates conversation with Grant showing no fear. James calmly asks Grant, “how about a

cigarette?”. James Bond stays cool-headed and manages to use gadgets in his suitcase to outwit

Grant and assassinate him against all odds. The film purposefully places James Bond in a life or

death situation with the intent to highlight his abilities to stay calm under pressure. More

importantly, the film makes a subtle statement on western intelligence compared to Soviet

intelligence agents. The scene serves as a way to discredit Soviet intelligence and paint them as

inferior to western intelligence (James Bond). The film inspires the audiences to support western

agencies and be proud of them as they are “superior” and much more capable than the Soviets.

The premise of the cold war is a war of ideologies between the Soviet Union and the United

States; the film paints the Russians as failures while promoting western ideals through James

Bond’s portrayal.

“From Russia with Love” is a reflection of what was occurring in western society at the

time. The film appropriately depicts society’s standard gender norms for men and women. The

James Bond film disguises itself as a pro-capitalist movie when in reality it is an

over-exaggeration of the cold war. The film uses most of the common stereotypes and

expectations for Russians and gender to represent them in the film as such. The film drowns the

characters in unrealistic portrayals to highlight how society viewed Russians and gender during

the cold war in the 1960s.

 CONCLUSIONS

Through the analysis of “From Russia with Love” within the context of the cold war and

secondary sources, it can be concluded that the film industry began as a form of spreading

propaganda and it evolved to separate itself from the government. In “From Russia with Love”

the transition in the film industry is subtly shown. The film overall depicts communism as a

threat to western society yet at the same time it highlights what society was like during the 60s

through the representation of gender. This detail portrays how the film industry at the time was

beginning to split from the government’s influence and producers began to reflect the current

social norms being experienced at that time.

IMPLICATIONS

Films are powerful media outlets that are forms of entertainment as well as information.

Films began as tools used by the government to influence the population but soon the very same

population it was trying to influence began to impact the film industry forcing the film industry

to shift. Cinema evolved into a mutualist state with a society where films still have the power to

influence the audience, however, cinema has grown to reflect and show what society is like from

a dramatic standpoint and it creates parallels to the real world rather than try to change it as it

used to at the beginning of the cold war.

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