Cherry Award Finalist - Randy Roberts' Public Lecture
| Date | October 25, 2021 |
| Time | 5:00 - 6:00 pm |
| Location | Kayser Auditorium, Hankamer or live-streamed @ https://www.baylor.edu/cherry_awards/index.php?id=981436 |
| Description | "Defining America and Winning the War: Popular Culture’s Role in World War II" Remember the film Animal House? The scene when Bluto (John Belushi) attempts to rally the American warrior spirit of his fraternity brothers by asking, "Was it over when the German bombed Pearl Harbor?" Actually, the outbreak of war in December 1941 fell hard on a country where many citizens had been deeply divided on the course of American foreign policy and others remarkably ill-informed about geopolitical realities. Surveys conducted that month reported that only fourteen percent of Americans could name one of President Roosevelt’s "Four Freedoms," and a mere five percent could articulate a clear ideological reason for the war. Drawing on the research and material from six of his books, Randy Roberts focuses on the role popular culture played in informing Americans of the reasons for the war, the ideological issues involved in the conflict, and the world the Roosevelt administration hoped would emerge from the ashes of battle. The address takes the listeners from the studios of Hollywood and the recording rooms of Tin Pan Alley to the center of the comic book industry and the gridirons of the country’s universities. Focusing on such personalities and icons as Billy Wilder and John Wayne, Irving Berlin and Judy Garland, Superman and Captain America, the address shows that never was entertainment so serious and important. It proved a valuable weapon in the American war effort. |
| Publisher | Cherry Award Admin |
| vCal | Download this event |