Why Are Iraq War Movies Box-Office Flops?
The abundance of recent Hollywood films focusing on the Iraq War and its consequences has given journalists covering the entertainment business plenty to write about this fall — from the significance of making political art during wartime to the financial risks that come with criticizing government leaders in the midst of an ongoing conflict. The early box-office results for such films as Paul Haggis’ In the Valley of Elah and the Reese Witherspoon vehicle Rendition suggest that grappling with a current war is not a path that leads to financial success. Are audiences suffering from war fatigue, as many have suggested? Do they have little interest in following a war on the big screen when they are surrounded by images and stories of it on the small screens in their home? Maybe. But it’s not like the American news media have been particularly effective at saturating the public with images from Iraq and Afghanistan. And it is tough to argue that the often critical stance these films take
