Post-Cold War kids: changing representations of Russia and the Cold War in American children's film, 1992-2001
Celmer, Samantha Marie
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/92847
Description
Title
Post-Cold War kids: changing representations of Russia and the Cold War in American children's film, 1992-2001
Author(s)
Celmer, Samantha Marie
Issue Date
2016-07-15
Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)
Cooper, David
Buckley, Cynthia
Department of Study
Russian,E European,Eurasn Ctr
Discipline
Russian, E Eur, Eurasian St
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
M.A.
Degree Level
Thesis
Keyword(s)
Russia
Cold War
United States
American Cinema
Children's Media
Abstract
This thesis is a study of representations of Russia and the Cold War in American children's films from the 1990s. By analyzing nine movies, this work explores the question: what messages about Russia and the Cold War do nineties children's movies contain? This analysis explores the othering of Russian characters, the treatment of Cold War sentiments, such as toxic masculinity, and the recycling of tropes. It looks at the attempts, or failures, to move away from the negative messages about Russia that the American media used in the 1950s and through the 1980s, specifically in the context of children's media. This study finds that although some of the films only engage with Russia on a surface level and continue to use the tropes and techniques used during the Cold War to other Russia, a majority of the films engage with the topic on a deeper level. In such cases, Russian characters are more relatable and the sentiments of the Cold War are criticized.
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