Citation

Toohey D. Rev. Policy Res. 2007; 24(6): 609-626.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Policy Studies Organization (USA), Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1541-1338.2007.00302.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Surrealism, altered to fit the politics of marginalized people, helps to analyze popular culture's response to war and terrorism. Metaphors from surrealist art and sources from popular culture, including Fahrenheit 9/11 and the apocalyptic, violent, dispensationalist, Left Behind novel series, reveal many discussions of U.S. policy that are currently occurring. This article asks how political agendas are communicated and framed to society via images and how this influences debate over war. The overall conclusion is that the prowar movement uses images that dissuade U.S. society from critical thought and debate on foreign policy issues. While surrealist imagery provides metaphors for the analytic framework, imagery in support of war uses less thought and more violence, which is appropriately analyzed using German Romantic film as a metaphor.