American Dream, Global Nightmare (Perfect Paperback)

The authors explore ten themes: the promotion of fear - 'be afraid, be very afraid'; escape (emigration, running away); exceptionalism - believing themselves different from and better than other nations, there is no need to know anything about them; the USA as the idea of nation is everybody's future; everything should be democratically accessible - guns, other people's oil, etc.; the right to be imperial; cinema as empire's engine (not profit then?!); worldwide celebrity as empire's currency; war as needed for origin, identity, consolidation, expansion and hegemony; and the USA's way as universal.

The authors explore how Hollywood has given America its idealised image of itself. John Ford's classic Western Drums along the Mohawk (1939) explored the themes of civilising the wilderness by pushing back the frontier, building a new life and a new land by wiping out Native Americans.

Frank Capra's Mr Smith goes to Washington (also 1939) presented the USA as the idea of nation, sanctifying the US Constitution, an 18th century document which endorses 'the right of property in a slave', does not guarantee the right to vote and does not allow a direct vote for the head of government.

Howard Hawks' To have and have not (1944), like Casablanca (1942), gave us Humphrey Bogart as the reluctant hero, symbolising the USA as reluctant superpower. Robert Altman's The player (1992) examined Hollywood, empire and celebrity. Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), starring John Wayne, presented war's psychosis. Universal soldier (1992) portrayed the USA as the global narrative.

The authors impute a single culture to the USA, ignoring its working class culture of trade unions, workers' nationalism and opposition to empire. Like the hero of Groundhog Day (1993), the USA is trapped in repeats, of exploitation and war. American workers must reject idealism, take responsibility for running America and throw out their rulers.

To summarize the argument, the authors use Hollywood movies ("The Player", "Groundhog Day", "Universal Soldier") as a template for examining the fear-driven myths that motivate American actions at home and abroad and hinder self-reflection and examination of those actions. They contrast the myth of American democracy with the historical realities of the country's technically flawed Constitution whose design and application permit privileged minority rule over the masses.

In choosing to use films as the basis for nearly all the books discussions, the author's best critique is that of Hollywood, effectively the creator and exporter of American myth and the country's vision of itself as a global, rather than merely a provincial narrative. With the flurry of American films in our multiplexes, and the country's recent Iraq invasion, this rings very true.

The book's sarcastic tone occasionally hampers things, and there is too little mention of it's principal ally, Britain, but otherwise the book is an articulate and thought-provoking read.

Sometimes it grates slightly, if you're not into Movies, but it does build to the climax that Americans believe the lies and half-truths that Hollywood feeds them.

I liked the 10 Laws of American Mythology - I can readily relate to them, such as "Be Afraid, be very Afraid"; "Ignorance is Bliss"; "American Democracy has the right to be Imperial" and "War is a Necessity"

Americans indeed are cocooned - so eloquently put by Ambrose Bierce 100 years ago "War is God's way of teaching Americans geography" - still oh so true.