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Infinity Wars: Post 9/11 Superhero Films And American Empire, Peter J. Bruno
Infinity Wars: Post 9/11 Superhero Films And American Empire, Peter J. Bruno
Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects
In the last two decades, superhero films have accounted for some of the most popular and financially lucrative films of all time. This thesis analyzes some of the aesthetic and ideological dimensions of various superhero films following their post 9/11 boom. Beginning with America’s response to the events of 9/11 and a subsequent retreat into a Manichean world of good versus evil, I introduce the term “empirical reality” in order to account for the ways daily American life is shielded from the worst effects of U.S. foreign policy. On screen this manifests by perpetuating the myth of the “clean war” …