(Re)Imagining the 1950s: The Crux of Board Games, Wonder Woman, and the American Ideal

Year 2017, Issue: 46, 63 - 84, 01.04.2017

Annessa Ann Babic

Abstract

12 Mart 1947’de, Başkan Harry Truman dünyayı ve daha da önemlisi ABD’yi komünizmden korumaya yönelik planını açıkladı. Amerikan Karşıtı Faaliyetleri İzleme Komitesi’nin kuruluşu ve meşhur Hollywood kara listelerinin ortaya çıkışı ile somut olarak görülemeyen, varsayımsal bir tehdit karşısında tüm ülke bir araya geldi. Komünizm ile savaşmak ve ABD’nin ulusal güvenliğini korumak için düzenlenen bu propaganda kampanyası, Amerikan hayatının her noktasına nüfuz etmeyi hedefliyordu ve Truman’ın çevreleme politikasını açıklamasının ardından bilinen en uzun ve en sert propaganda kampanyası ortaya çıktı. Savaşın hemen ardından ortaya çıkan bu propaganda, çok farklı yöntemlerle sistematik bir biçimde genişledi. Amerikan çocuklarının korunması için çağrıda bulunan posterlerden, ana karakterlerinin “komünizm tehdidi” olduğu filmlere, devlet destekli cadı avlarına ve kadınların ev kadını olarak yüceleştirilmesine kadar çeşitli yöntemler kullanıldı. Bu yıllar boyunca toplum, kadınların evden uzaklaştırılmasını ulusal güvenlik ve Amerikan değerlerinin korunması için gerekli görmekteydi. Barışın patlak vermesi diye adlandırılan süreç ve çevreleme politikasının baskısıyla, kadınlar ticari ürünler ve popüler kültür unsurları üzerinden yapılan çeşitli yöntemler aracılığıyla nasıl davranacakları konusunda yeniden bir biçimlendirmeye tabi tutuldular. Milton Bradley’in popüler Battleship Amiral Battı masa oyunu bu karmaşık ve çok tartışılan 1950’ler atmosferine yönelik ilginç bir bakış açısı sağlamaktadır. Evde sergilenmesi gereken davranış biçimlerini gösteren ve dayatan bu gibi unsurlar, 1950’ler propaganda dalgasının tek türü değildir. 2. Dünya Savaşı sırasında ortaya çıkan cesur ve seksi kahraman Wonder Woman Harika Kadın sadece komünist tehdit ile savaşmakla kalmaz, kendisi ve altbenliği Diana Prince , uyum ve huzur sağlama amacıyla kullanılan çeşitli etkinlikler ile kadın ve çocukların aile içinde beklenen davranış biçimlerini de topluma dayatır ve kendisinin de döneceği bir yuvası olması özlemiyle bir aşk ve sevgili arayışı da sergiler. Amerikan ailesi ve kadını miti, çizgi romanlar, reklamlar ve sansasyonel bir biçimde sunulan Rosenberglerin davası gibi olaylarla pekiştirilmiştir. Banliyö evleri, arabalar ve hatta konserve gıdalar üzerinden sunulan bu hayali umut ve bolluk durumu, gittikçe militer bir hal alan bir süper devleti ve derinden bölünmüş ülke gerçeğini gizlemiştir. Bu çerçevede, bu makale kadın imgesinin biçimlendirilmesi açısından 1950’lerin düşleri ve fantezilerini incelemektedir

Keywords

Wonder Woman, çizgi roman, masa oyunları, Amerikan idealleri, feminizm, Soğuk Savaş

(Re)Imagining the 1950s: The Crux of Board Games, Wonder Woman, and the American Ideal

Abstract

On March 12, 1947, President Harry S. Truman unveiled his plan to protect the world—and most importantly the United States—from the threat of Communism. With the institution of the House Un-American Affairs Committee, and the infamous blacklist in Hollywood, the country united under the surmise of an intangible threat. This propaganda campaign, to fight communism and protect the national security of the United States, sought to reach every aspect of American life, and the events following the announcement of Truman’s containment policy instituted one of the longest and most brutal propaganda campaigns of its kind. The propaganda of the immediate post-war period developed in a systematic manner via a plethora of genres, and agencies by proxy. These depictions ranged from posters crying out for the protection of US children, movies with the “Commie menace” as the protagonist, government sponsored witch-hunts, and the idealization of women as housewives. During these years, society viewed women’s removal from the home as essential to national security and the protection of American ideals. Yet, with the so-called outbreak of peace and pressures for containment, women—as portrayed via products and elements of popular culture—needed to be re-educated on their behavior. Milton Bradley’s popular Battleship game provides a subtle window into this turbulent, and much discussed, soul of the 1950s. The printed and prescribed modes for activities within the home were not the only propaganda waves of the 1950s. Wonder Woman, the valiant and sexy hero birthed during the Second World War, not only fought the commie menace but she and her alter ego Diana Prince reinforced the modes of domestic behavior for women and children via exploits to bring harmony and peace and find her own love and man to come home to. The myth of the American family and women was perpetuated via the fantasy orchestrated in comics, advertisements, and sensationalized trials like the Rosenberg’s. This dream state of harmony and abundance via suburban homes, cars, and even canned food masked the reality of a growing military superstate and a deeply divided America. Accordingly, this paper examines the dreams and fantasies of the 1950s via the manipulation of the female’s image

Keywords

Wonder Woman, comics, board games, American ideals, feminism, Cold War

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