Revolutions have always inspired movies and television shows in Hollywood. From the Star Wars franchise, Frank Herbert’s Dune, Arcane, and Suzanne Collins’ Hunger Games, many of these films are admired by audiences and critics alike. Some of them even lead to imaginative fan fiction, a cultish following, and endless rounds of online discussions and debates. Predictably, fans and spectators tend to side with the protagonists, who they believe to be the “good guys.” On screen, the black-and-white differentiation between good and bad is simple; audiences can easily decipher who stands on the right side of history. But when it comes to historical or current political affairs, the kind that might inspire their favorite characters, battles, and worlds, nuance is suddenly central to the plot.
Arcane is an adaptation of the popular video game League of Legends and has received generally positive reviews by viewers on social media and Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, and IGN. It was also nominated for several awards, including Best Adaptation at the 2024 Game Awards. The plot follows the tangible class divide in the fictional city of ‘Piltover,’ and the strife between wealthy “top-siders”, and poor “bottom-siders,” the oppressed people of Zaun.” The second season, released in November 2024, kicks off after a rocket attack by Jinx, a resident of Zaun, targeted a counsel meeting in Piltover which was convening about whether or not to reconcile with her city. As a result of the attack, Piltover declared martial law on Zaun, imposing a “guilty until proven innocent” policy towards any and all of its people who did not fall in line.
Viewers were quick to point out the similarities between Israel’s war on Gaza and its treatment of Palestinians, which have both been described by international human rights organizations as an apartheid state that has acted with ‘genocidal intent’ over the past year. For the past 75 years, Palestinians have traveled around the world to share their experiences of settler-colonialism, ethnic cleansing, and Israel’s sheer brutality towards their people. After the events of October 7th, when Hamas infiltrated the Gazan borders, the international community condemned the attacks and labeled them acts of “terrorism,” completely ignoring the history of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory and decades of systemic erasure of the Palestinian people. Israel went on to propagate false news released by their military, including the unsubstantiated claims of decapitated babies. In parallel, following Jinx’s attack, Caitlyn, an enforcer in Piltover who originally sympathised with Zaun, and love interest to Jinx’s sister Vi, altered the way she spoke of Zaun. She supported sending platoons into Zaun to capture Jinx regardless of the repercussions. She overlooked Piltover’s systemic oppression to condemn Jinx’s actions instead.
On screen, the black-and-white differentiation between good and bad is simple; audiences can easily decipher who stands on the right side of history. But when it comes to historical or current political affairs, the kind that might inspire their favorite characters, battles, and worlds, nuance is suddenly central to the plot.
Hollywood productions aren’t confined to their immediate region. They build a following across the globe, therefore exporting their moral lessons and interpretations to non-American audiences. It is rare to see characters from the Western world, or their fictional counterparts, killed as a result of historical consequence or “collateral damage.” Such labels are often reserved for their “foreign” enemies in action films and or science fiction, where the ‘other’ is an extraterrestrial being, a robot, or an alien.
In American Sniper, when Chris Kyle, the protagonist, shoots and kills an Iraqi child who he perceives as a potential threat, the audience is expected to empathize with Kyle and rationalize his behavior. Similarly, in the first installment of Avengers, the multi-superhero squad fights hordes of creatures, the Chitauri, hoping to invade Earth. The Chitauri do not speak throughout the film and are portrayed as distinct beings from the human race, they’re following orders from the antagonist Loki. Although it’s clear their role is to do as they’re told, the audience cannot sympathize with Loki’s army, who are wiped off by the Avengers squad in a bid to protect the world. The desperation of resistance is therefore only understood when the audience’s interests are at stake.
In real life, marginalized groups resisting colonial powers are met with existential accusations of disregarding innocent civilian life and reprimands from the international community’s leading democratic governments who had nothing to say about the dehumanizing state of affairs prior to the outbreak of violence. At the time of writing, after a ceasefire deal has been signed by Israel and Hamas, we’re still reading headlines from global media outlets about “How Hamas Uses Brutality to Maintain Power” and blaming “Hamas for [the] delay in Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.” As expected, these headlines put the blame on Hamas’ actions, thereby deflecting and acquitting Israel of its history of apartheid, violence, and disproportionate retaliation against the Gazan people through a genocidal military campaign.
The desperation of resistance is therefore only understood when the audience’s interests are at stake.
Beyond misrepresenting revolutions, Hollywood also takes its liberties with its scenes of destruction in historical, sacred, and cultural sites. In Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, directed by Michael Bay, Giza’s pyramids are toppled by battling Transformers as they fall over them. Hong Kong’s skyline and harbor are demolished in Adam Wingard’s Godzilla vs. Kong. These images normalize audiences to what we’re seeing happening in Gaza today: Israel’s absolute disregard for Palestinian cultural heritage. Over 200 historical sites have been destroyed in Gaza since October 2023, including one of the oldest Christian monasteries, the Library of the Great Omari Mosque, which housed rare manuscripts from the Quran and Prophet Muhammad’s biographies, and the ancient seaport Anthedon Harbour. Meanwhile, spectators watch unflinchingly at the spectacle on their screens with the same detachment they watch fictional battles playing at nearby cinemas.
Meanwhile, in 2002, a trailer for the Spider-Man movie was pulled off the air due to a scene showing Spider-Man battling criminals atop the Twin Towers, which were destroyed on September 11, 2001. As it goes, the Global South’s disasters are not only considered less devastating than those of the West, but are also free reign for entertainment and profit.
In real life, marginalized groups resisting colonial powers are met with existential accusations of disregarding innocent civilian life and reprimands from the international community’s leading democratic governments who had nothing to say about the dehumanizing state of affairs prior to the outbreak of violence.
Thankfully, news audiences are encouraged to broaden their cachet of news sources, one of social media’s few positive outcomes. From a box office perspective, they’re also eager to watch foreign films, like Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, which was awarded Best Picture at the February 2020 Academy Awards. Perhaps it’s unrealistic to expect Hollywood to paint an accurate picture of imperialism and colonialism. It is, however, possible to turn Western audiences’ heads elsewhere by giving them no choice but to comprehend the world through the art produced by the people whose countries their governments have relentlessly meddled in, and obliterated, for far too long.
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