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Popular Culture Review
required not only the fulfillment of individual rights, but also the fulfillment of
the Social Contract. We can see this ethos expressed in a number of popular
culture texts from the 1960s, including the writing of Rod Serling and Gene
Roddenberry on television, Stan Lee and Gardner Fox in comic books, and some
of the science fiction of Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick. Outside the popular
culture ghetto, Postwar Humanism underwrote Kennedy’s New Frontier,
Johnson’s Great Society, and both the Civil Rights and New Left movements.
While Admiral Nelson relies upon his rank to have his way for much of Voyage
to the Bottom o f the Sea, his mission is founded on scientific reasoning, and his
ultimate appeal to reason lands him squarely in the Postwar Humanist camp. In
contrast, Alvarez justifies his own actions not through reason but by citing the
authority of scripture.
Nelson and Alvarez have two different methods for laying claim to
authority. Nelson’s is subject to tests and arguments; Alvarez’s is not. In a
fundamentalist worldview (whether Christian or Islamic), the Word of God is
eternal truth, and there is little room for debate. In the scientific method, truth
claims are always subject to discussion and revision. The differences between
these two methods have profound implications for both education and American
political culture. Patriarchy asserts a circular logic closer to that of
fundamentalism: the people in charge know what they are doing; they know
what they are doing because they are the people in charge. Father knows best,
simply because he is the father. In the Strict Parent model delineated by Lakoff,
the person in authority is presumed to have achieved that position through
superior strength of character; as such, the authority is always justified, and
attacks on it, or even questions of it, are presumed to be unjustified. However,
such logic is at odds with democratic principles, which demand reasoned
inquiry, free discussion, and deliberation among equals.
On September 11, 2001, the American people were awakened from an
untroubled sleep. The world to which they woke was frightening, confusing, and
disorienting. The events of that day challenged our self-concept that the world
loves us because we are the good guys. In such circumstances, a strong leader
who communicates a simplistic and unwavering message may seem quite
appealing and comforting. But the fetishizing of leadership is inappropriate in a
democracy. Our form of government requires us to think for ourselves, and to
make our judgments based on reason, not authority. The Strongman theory of
government, as characterized by Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Kim Jong II,
Saddam Hussein, and any American president who holds himself unaccountable
to Congress (Greenwald, 38-42), should be recognized as antithetical to
democratic values.
Althusser asserted that media were among many institutions in culture that
reinforced dominant ideology (143-6). The films under discussion are not
causes, but symptoms. As thinkers and citizens, we should be worned. A culture
that emphasizes obedience to authority is not a culture that endorses free
thought, or any other kind of liberty. If we do not heed this central lesson of the