Us against Them

Abstract

Images of the Cold War penetrated people's lives in every possible way back then in the 70s and 80s and have been doing so every since. From propaganda posters caricaturing the current regime and pointing out the major driving forces keeping the nations on opposing sides to propaganda movies with subtler and more obvious references; the Cold War was fought on every possible venue, even outside the actual battlefields. After the era of open military conflicts between countries, the Cold War brought a novelty in modern warfare by putting almost equal emphasis on diplomatic relations as on the actual military excursions. After decades of nuclear power-flaunting, manipulating the public and popular thinking seemed to be a more efficient way one country could win over the other. The concept of the Cold War has emerged not only as a historical journal of the two superpowers' opposition, but it also provided an inexhaustible topic for various fields of popular culture among which probably the most spectacular takes occurred in cinematography.