Science fiction movies and comics sprang from the early days of nuclear proliferation. Spy themed television and movies really took off in the sixties as the Cold War intensified. Much of this seemed to capitalize on certain societal fears. Even though I wasn't born yet during the Second War War, as a young child I remember countless images and bits of information from this most terrible conflict in history. I'm not sure if they were always accurate ones, but one thing was universally clear: we Americans really felt righteous in our might.
I recall two things from getting my haircuts as a kid at Vinnie's Barber Shop in North Branford, CT. One was the sound of a breed of country music on WFIF-1500 AM out of Milford that seems so far removed from today's country. The other was the pile of comic books he had that seemed to be always about seemingly superhuman heroes facing down evil Nazis and Japanese in WWII. It made me wonder even back then whether an American Indian riding on a horse could really shoot down a divebombing Messerschmitt fighter with a pistol. It didn't matter; we were the good guys. As the Vietnam War got more controversial and I started forming my own opinions, the roles of good and bad guy seemed to blur as the goal of our mission was never defined.
As we face one of the most evil forces in decades in the form of ISIS, I don't see the same dichotemy between good and bad portrayed as widely in pop culture. Perhaps that in itself is a good thing, but I also wonder how much of it is based on a disconnect from the conflict as Americans know more about the Kardashians than the whole Middle East while some distrust our own government so much that they question its constituionality or legitimacy. We should have a natural reluctance to demonize people not of our group while questioning authority, but some basic allegiance to a greater good shouldn't go the way of WWII comics - or the sound of yesterday's country music.
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