The American hero and the American Ideology of survivalism in Steven Spielberg’s War of the worlds

Oleh :
Nailul Lutfi Amalia - C0302044 - Fak. Sastra dan Seni Rupa

ABSTRACT The American Hero and The American Ideology of Survivalism in Steven Spielberg’s War of The Worlds. Faculty of Letters and Fine Arts. The thesis entitled “The American Hero and The American Ideology of Survivalism in Steven Spielberg’s War of The Worlds” is an analysis of an American Hero and the ideology of survivalism as reflected in the movie of War of The Worlds by Steven Spielberg. This thesis is conducted within the framework of American Studies and uses the interdisciplinary studies which make it possible to answer the research questions from various points of views. Taking the motion picture of War of The Worlds (2005) directed by Steven Spielberg, as the source of data, this research wants to answer two research questions. The research questions are: (1) how does this movie present the American Hero? and (2) how does the American Hero in War of The Worlds affirm American Ideology of Survivalism? The main data of this research are characters’ facial expressions, scenes, the dialogues and photography. While many articles, movie reviews, and other related writings about this movie are the supporting data to analyze in this research. This research is a library research in the form of descriptive qualitative research. Semiotic Film Theory and Popular Culture Theory are employed to reveal the hidden meaning of signs in the movie. Meanwhile, sociological approach is also used because the making of this movie is closely related to the condition of American society recently. This thesis comes to a conclusion of the presentation of the American hero. Ray Ferrier is an American hero by qualifications which constructs him to be a hero. He is an ordinary American who still works for his daily needs. As a skilled American hero, his ability is better than common people. He is capable of making quick decision and responds immediately to the emergency situations. He qualifies as a hero since he shows American perseverance by showing high determination to shelter his children by destroying the threat. His ability to return the stability of Earth’s community back to normal again makes him to be the defender of the society. Meanwhile, the affirmation of American ideology of survivalism can be seen through the theme of this movie itself. It brings the audience back to the basic idea of life. It strongly presents the idea that natural force plays significant role to select organism on Earth. Although human has used his maximum effort and power of technology and science to destroy the alien’s tripod, this strongest creatures is defeated by the tiniest organism on Earth, the microorganism. The natural power shows that human beings are the most appropriate creature that can live harmoniously on the Earth. This movie explains that human’s destiny, especially Americans, is returned to the fundamental basis of evolution by Natural Selection. The hero in this movie affirms the ideology of survivalism by having an understanding that American beliefs and values are very important and necessary for survivalism.