Hollywood at War: WWII Propaganda | Rob Buscher

https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/ Hollywood at War: WWII Anti-Japanese Propaganda and Impacts on Japanese Americans In his presentation at the annual Admiral Nimitz Conference Rob Buscher explores anti-Japanese propaganda in entertainment-based Hollywood films (fictional scripted narratives), cartoons, and documentary news reels – and how they failed to distinguish between the Japanese Imperial Army, and persons of Japanese ancestry living in the United States. Thomas Edison’s 1898 documentary newsreel Wreck of the Battleship Maine and subsequent film coverage of the Spanish-American War were the origins of film propaganda in the United States. Since then, film and video have influenced the way Americans understand and consume conflict. As motion picture technology improved, Hollywood became increasingly intertwined with the military industrial complex. During World War II, the integration of anti-Japanese propaganda narratives into major studio films reached a new level of collaboration. Speaker Bio: Rob Buscher is a film and media specialist, educator, and author with expertise in Japanese and Asian American diasporic cinema. He teaches at the University of Pennsylvania’s Asian American Studies Program and has hosted and produced projects including WHYY/PBS’s Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders: A Philadelphia Story and the Look Toward the Mountain podcast. He also curates exhibitions, serves on the Japanese American Citizens League Board, and co-produces documentary films. Program Sponsors: Fischer and Wieser Humanities Texas Frost Bank Ben E. Keith Bricks & Minifigs This program was made possible in part with a grant from Humanities Texas, the state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program, do not necessarily represent those of our donors and sponsors or the National Museum of the Pacific War. For more videos, webinars, and our mission, please visit us online: https://www.pacificwarmuseum.org/ This is a recording from the National Museum of the Pacific War. Copyright 2025 Admiral Nimitz Foundation.