Cinema and the Civilizing Process: Rethinking Violence in the World War II Combat Film

• Published in: Cinema journal Vol. 44; no. 3; pp. 35 - 63
• Main Author: Slocum, J. David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Austin, Tex., etc University of Texas Press 01.04.2005; Michigan Publishing; University of Michigan Press; Michigan Publishing (University of Michigan Library)
• Subjects: American cinema; Analysis; Artistic Representation (Imitation); Combat; Critical theory; Criticism and interpretation; Elias, Norbert; Elias, Norbert (1897-1990); Film criticism; History; Human aggression; Motion picture criticism; Motion picture industry; Motion pictures; Movies; Social interaction; Soldiers; Violence; Violence in motion pictures; War; War Films; War in motion pictures; Warfare; World War II; World wars; United States; New York; United States > US; Vietnam
• ISSN: 0009-7101; 1527-2087; 2578-4900; 1527-2087
• DOI: 10.1353/cj.2005.0021

This essay proposes an alternative critical approach to the "violence" of the "World War II" combat film. Guiding this approach is the idea of a "civilizing process" that attends both to specific representations in war films and to the institutional role of cinema in socializing and regulating individual behavior. The theoretical grounding here is the sociological work of Norbert Elias, whose major study, "The Civilizing Process," was first published in 1939.