This essay argues that Spielberg's War of the Worlds , constitutive of anxieties generated by Nine-eleven, tacitly cultivates an affective response of desperation in order to promulgate an ideology of paternal sovereignty. To this end I first claim that the film is about sovereignty because it re-stages a state of nature as a “state of emergency.” Second, drawing on the work of Jacques Lacan and Giorgio Agamben, I argue that the father figure of the film doubles as the figure of a sovereign insofar as both represent the authority of the law, both are charged with protecting their people, and both have the power to assert a state of exception. Finally, the essay concludes by describing the parallels between the film's plot vis- -vis the father and the narrative arc of the presidency of George W. Bush.
Father Trouble: Staging Sovereignty in Spielberg's War of the Worlds
Abstract
This essay argues that Spielberg's War of the Worlds , constitutive of anxieties generated by Nine-eleven, tacitly cultivates an affective response of desperation in order to promulgate an ideology of paternal sovereignty. To this end I first claim that the film is about sovereignty because it re-stages a state of nature as a “state of emergency.” Second, drawing on the work of Jacques Lacan and Giorgio Agamben, I argue that the father figure of the film doubles as the figure of a sovereign insofar as both represent the authority of the law, both are charged with protecting their people, and both have the power to assert a state of exception. Finally, the essay concludes by describing the parallels between the film's plot vis- -vis the father and the narrative arc of the presidency of George W. Bush.Preview Only. This article cannot be rented because we do not currently have permission from the publisher.
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Father Trouble: Staging Sovereignty in Spielberg's War of the Worlds
Follow Critical Studies in Media Communication
, Volume 25 (1): 1-27
Informa Healthcare – Mar 1, 2008
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