Origin: This is a section of a U.S. propaganda film released by the War Department. It is titled “Know your Enemy: Japan”
Purpose: This is a film. Its purpose is to convince the viewer of the accuracy of a certain point of view. In this case the film's purpose is to convince the viewer that the Japanese are primitive and inhuman.
This source is a U.S. anti-Japanese propaganda film. The video presents a stereotypical image of Japanese people to the viewer. The video says that Japanese soldiers “are as much alike as photographic prints off the same negative” (1) this, paired with the video’s description of the average Japanese soldier as being “five feet three inches” (1) tall, weighing “117 pounds” (1) and having an “unsoldierly” (1) appearance paints the Japanese army as an unintimidating force. This made the U.S.’s position in the war seem desirable, as it cast the enemy as being weak and easily defeated. The video goes on to portray the Japanese as simplistic, subhuman, uncivilized and violent. According to the film, Japanese soldiers “live on rice” (1). They are said to have “tough little mind[s]” (1). The video also says that the Japanese think that “treachery, brutality, rape, and torture are all justified” (1), portraying them as being uncivilized, violent and less mentally capable than an American person. This video makes it seem like the U.S. was fighting a war against savages who were wicked and violent and thus justifies the war to the American populace. This source is significant because it uses racial stereotypes to portray the Japanese as being bad in order to justify the war, which is a standard tactic used in propaganda.
Artifact (click this, it is a link)
