Lili: A Cold War Parable
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They could rest assured that orphan Lili would be cared for and hope that Paul
would become less beastly, although the film promises nothing of the kind. This
amounts to the world embracing American colonialism in the form of exported
foreign aid and the entertainment that glorified capitalistic individualism.
Americans and Europeans were supposed to love unquestioningly the power
structure that (supposedly) sustained them. To balk at the realization that those
entities were cruel imperialists, and to run away, was unwise at best and
probably suicidal. They needed to love the power structure behind their adored
cars, movies, and household appliances despite their brutal displays of colonial
might, as in Korea.
By 1953, the American government did not have the undivided support it
enjoyed in the wake of World War II when it channeled American fear and
hatred for the Axis powers to similar feelings towards foreign and domestic
communism. The puppeteers needed to understand that they could not hide
behind a curtain forever. A well-fed and ambitious American public would grow
wise to their machinations. The trick they needed to leam, and the moral of this
movie, was how to turn the public’s heart back in their favor. For that to happen,
Americans needed to believe that they faced a dismal and uncertain ftiture
without their leaders—a bleak, scary, black and white Iron Curtained world void
of affect and romantic love. Fear—not of the brutal puppeteer, but of the world
outside—would turn them back. Educated and aware, they could then enjoy the
security provided by their government’s weapons, and the “freedom” to love
their puppets.
Empire State College
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