Militarism, Misanthropy and the Body Politic: - Brunel University

EnterText 6.2
military might, technical savvy, and a sense of entitlement is all America needs to get
through the crisis. In ID4, and in America’s response to the current crisis, if we just keep
pushing onward without taking a moment to reflect, we will have a happy ending.
Independence Day is about a happy war. Millions disappear, including people we
know intimately, and yet the process looks like fun. When Republican Bob Dole’s
secretary, who endorsed the film, was asked about the millions who died, he exclaimed:
“But, they’re all liberals!” 63 Though the number of dead from the twin towers have been
counted and recounted, other deaths remain vague. Both ID4 and the military/
government/media conglomerate shield the viewer from images of harm and death: the
film and the current war seem to be reduced to a video game.
Both ID4 and the U.S. government present a childlike image of war and
technology. In the initial stages of the War on Terror, we saw aerial photographs of
towns, and then softly depressed earth, as well as computer mock-ups of military
hardware. Levinson explains the aliens’ plans by drawing simple circles and lines on a
notepad, “Line of sight, Mr. President,” and plans our counter-attack on the alien
mothership using a few polaroids, magic marker, and a clipboard. The instructions for
piloting the aliens’ ship are scribbled on a post-it note. George Bush’s projection of an in-
and-out invasion (six months with sweets and flowers) might have been influenced by
ID4’s one-punch takedown of the aliens. The fantasy that a quickly written computer
virus might halt an alien invasion seems close to Bush’s project to create a magic circle,
through prayer, that protects us from the “evil ones,” and his belief that “Star Wars” will
create a giant shield over America—a gargantuan diaphragm in the sky. Both ID4’s
government and the current administration back huge military spending. As Julius
Carol Vernallis: Independence Day 101