ABSTRACT
During the 1980s, many film critics ascribed the continued relative popularity of the military to the Reagan administration, arguing that following the anti-Establishment films of the 1960s and early 1970s, which often criticized the military, movies from the late 1970s through the 1980s tended to portray the military more favorably. This chapter describes the thematic analysis that provides data on representations of American institutions. Sayonara is a forerunner of the military films of the more recent two decades, in which critical or negative representation of military characters is clearly the dominant trend. These films often take overtly antiauthoritarian stands and elevate individuality over other, more traditional attitudes, such as the idea that loyalty to the military organization is the duty of a good citizen. The anti-military films of the 1976-1990 period are even more critical of the military than the same class of films from the preceding decade.
