Cinema became an important instrument of external power for the United States of America, particularly during the Cold War. In addition to their economic impact on a global scale, Hollywood films promote values, techniques, and worldviews - not only through their imposition on the market - but also through their active consumption by different audiences. Their images and narratives (about the US and the rest of the world) are exported and imitated, but also contested and recontextualised. Through the analysis of several film excerpts, this session will discuss the historical evolution and contradictions of what Victoria de Grazia called an “irresistible empire”: from sensationalist propaganda to the more subtle and ambiguous cultural imperialism, as well as its contribution – direct and indirect – to the anti-American repertoire itself.

Rui Lopes is a professor at Birkbeck, University of London, and a researcher at the Institute of Contemporary History, NOVA-FSCH, where he coordinates the line of research Modern Mediations: Art, Technology, and Communication. His research focuses on Cold War visual culture.