impressing upon people that they can be the hero and help their country, this encourages people to join the army and help however they can in the war effort. “The release of a successful Hollywood war movie will often boost recruitment to the US armed forces” as well, which means people enjoy watching the films and want to achieve what the characters do, even if it is unrealistic. 114 This desire for a hero in wartime imagery can be seen in some of Alexander Gardner’s photography. For example, his photograph, Home of a Rebel Sharpshooter, Gettysburg (1863) depicts a soldier who has made a kind of trench, dead at the bottom of it with his gun next to him. As it is a black and white image, the eye is first led to the pure white of the sky which contrasts against the dark hole the soldier resides in. From there it follows the pile of protective rocks before finally resting on the soldier’s crumpled form. His body parts blend in with the rocks of the terrain he is surrounded by which suggests he has become “one with the inanimate world.” 115 With no one else in sight, this image suggests that this soldier is a hero, shooting the enemy from his hiding place and protecting the lives of his fellow soldiers. However, years after the photograph was taken, “the image was discovered to have been posed.” 116 It is not then a depiction of a hero shooter, but an image which was created by dragging a soldier who had died on the battlefront. Nevertheless, this does not actually detract from the image as Gardner has created a narrative which “lends dignity to the life of the fallen soldier.” 117 Although his real story is unknown, he was still a soldier that fought in the war and died for the cause and which can be as heroic. Society’s need for a hero to praise does not mean that the masses of soldiers who go to war, are not individually heroes. Homer’s work has led society to desire a hero and
114 Westwell, War Cinema , p. 3 115 Angela L. Miller et al., American Encounters: Art, History and Cultural Identity (New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc., 2008), p. 272
116 Miller, American Encounters , p. 273 117 Miller, American Encounters , p. 273
43
Made with FlippingBook HTML5