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Media, militarism and mythologies of the state: The Latino soldier in World War II films

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Abstract

This essay examines the representation of Latino soldiers in World War II films and the social and political consequences of making these soldiers invisible or visible on screen. The Latino soldier's in/visibility has often been contingent upon state directives, genre conventions and prevailing war discourses. Films such as A Medal for Benny (1945), Battle Cry (1955) and Hell to Eternity (1960) were linked to discourses of national defense and, in later years, Cold War rhetoric. By focusing on these films, the essay calls for heightened vigilance about military and state influence in cinematic representations of Latino/a soldiers.

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Notes

  1. I am indebted to my anonymous readers who gave excellent feedback and direction. I also thank Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez, Suzanne Oboler and my fellow presenters at the “Latino/as in the Media” conference and workshop for their guidance and suggestions. Finally, I thank Rodrigo Rodríguez for his invaluable support.

  2. See the Defend the Honor website, http://www.defendthehonor.org/, accessed 17 May 2008.

  3. Koppes and Black (1987) describe disputes between the OWI and the PCA as the former advocated the inclusion of “overt political positions” in films “while the PCA tried to minimize them” (69). Part of the rift between the OWI and the military stemmed from the OWI's desire to be the “clearing house for all dealings between the studios and the government” (57). The military bristled at the OWI's attempt to supersede and undercut its long-standing relationship with Hollywood (113–121). Also, see Roeder (1993) for disputes between the OWI and the War and Navy Departments over the military's censorship of grim photographs of battlefield casualties (7–25).

  4. According to Slotkin (2001), the original script also included a Native American soldier, 481.

  5. See Ronald Takaki's (2001) Double Victory: A Multicultural History of America in World War II (2001) for a discussion of the paradox of wartime racism and the different ways in which marginalized communities responded to discrimination.

  6. The film Tortilla Flat (1942), based on Steinbeck's novel of the same name, also focuses on Mexican-American “paisanos.” His interest in Mexican culture can also be found in his novella The Pearl (1947), and the films Forgotten Village (1941) and Viva Zapata (1952).

  7. All quotes from the film come from Frank Butler's 1945 screenplay of A Medal for Benny in Gassner and Nichols, 1977.

  8. Letter to George Dorsey of Warner Brothers Pictures from Lt. Colonel Clair E. Towne, Motion Picture Section, Pictorial Branch, 25 September 1953. DoD Film Collection, Box 2, Folder 21. All DoD documents courtesy of the Georgetown University Library Special Collections Division.

  9. Letter to Dorsey from Towne, 16 October 1953, DoD Film Collection, Box 2, Folder 21.

  10. Letter to the Director of the Office of Public Information, DoD, from J. C. Burger, Headquarters US Marine Corps, 19 April 1954, DoD Film Collection, Box 2, Folder 21.

  11. Letter to George Dorsey from Donald Baruch, 22 April 1954, DoD Film Collection, Box 2, Folder 21.

  12. I thank Maggie Rivas-Rodríguez for first telling me about Guy Gabaldón and Hell to Eternity.

  13. Film synopsis, no date, DoD Film Collection, Box 22, Folder 16.

  14. Letter to Donald Baruch from Irving Levin, 18 November 1959, DoD Film Collection, Box 22, Folder 16.

  15. Memorandum to Assistant Secretary of Defense from Brig. Gen. A. R. Kier, 4 December 1959, DoD Film Collection, Box 22, Folder 16.

  16. Unfortunately, Gabaldón is incorrect in this fact. The Marines did award a posthumous Medal of Honor to a Latino, PFC Harold Gonsalves. However, it is noteworthy that, with the exception of Gonsalves, the 12 Medal of Honor Awards given to Latino soldiers during WWII all came from the Army.

  17. Feature films include In the Valley of Elah (2007), Lions for Lambs (2007), Redacted (2007), Battle for Haditha (2007), G.I. Jesús (2007) and The Lucky Ones (2009). See also the HBO series Generation Kill (2008) and documentaries including Querido Camilo (2007) and The Short Life of José Antonio Gutierrez (2006). As some of these films and documentaries take an anti-war stance or portray the destructive behaviors and consequences of warfare, they have not received military support with the exception of The Lucky Ones. David Halbfinger, (2008) reports that The Lucky Ones was the “first war-related Hollywood movie that the Army has fully supported with personnel, materiel and technical help.”

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  1. John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY

    Belinda L Rincón

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Rincón, B. Media, militarism and mythologies of the state: The Latino soldier in World War II films. Lat Stud 9, 283–299 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/lst.2011.2

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