ABSTRACT
The terrorist attacks of 9/11 ignited a series of “wars against terrorism” pitting the US and its allies against violent anti-establishment political movements around the world. Pop culture responded by glorifying those wars as well as popular US historical wars. In 2004 French theorist Jean Beaudrillard introduced the term “war porn” after viewing shocking photos taken by US soldiers in Iraq’s infamous Abu Ghraib prison. At the same time, returning US soldiers began releasing self-recorded real-time war videos and photos which were soon exchanged for sexual pornography. “War porn” quickly became one of the hottest internet genres.
