Message from Clay Dube

[clay dube]

The recent Japanese film University of Laughs (screened at the New York Film Festival in 2005 and reviewed by Rowena Aquino in Asia Pacific Arts) looks at censorship in wartime Japan. Maintaining morale and stimulating loyalty were assumed by government bodies on both sides of the Pacific to be critical during the war. The Why We Fight series produced by Frank Capra for the US War Department for US soldiers was thought so effective that they were ultimately shown to the general public. They remain available on VHS and DVD and can be readily used in classrooms today to encourage discussions of how we talk about others.

[Why We Fight - useful outlines, notes, clips]

John Dower's War Without Mercy includes an extensive discussion of propaganda and censorship, the focus of which is conveyed by the chapter title: "Race War".