More Than Meets the Eye: Transformers and the Justification of American Presence in the Middle East
“ When we watch a movie, we consume sensory impressions. When we read an article in a magazine or see an advertisement, we consume. [...] What we consume can contain a lot of toxins. If we ingest these poisons, we are destroying this body, this consciousness, transmitted to us by our parents, our ancestors.”
“The Global War on Terror [was] an international, American-led military campaign launched following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks [in the United States]” (“Global War on Terror”). This is how the George W. Bush Presidential Library defines the Global War on Terror (GWOT). The site goes on to quote former President Bush as saying, “[The] oppressed people of Afghanistan will know the generosity of America and our allies. [...] The United States of America is a friend to the Afghan people, and we are the friends of almost a billion worldwide who practice the Islamic faith” (“Global War on Terror”). Over the next 20 years, the GWOT would cost at least 46,319 Afghan civilians their lives (Crawford 1). Across the so-called “Middle East,” (encompassing for the purpose of this paper the countries “around the southern and eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea”), over 929,000 people lost their lives (“Middle East,” Crawford 1).
On July 3, 2007, Transformers (T), the first live action Transformers film directed by Michael Bay, came out. It follows the story of Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) and Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox) as they discover a race of alien robots (the Transformers) with whom Sam’s fate is coincidentally intertwined. The Autobots, a race of benevolent Transformers, have come to earth in search of the “Cube,” a source of great power that could help them in their war against the violent race called Decepticons. In their struggle to aid the Autobots with their mission and defeat the Decepticons, Sam and Mikaela face pushback from the United States military, which is attempting to hunt down and exterminate all Transformers following several violent interactions with Decepticons, who have also come to Earth seeking the Cube. Earth becomes the battleground for two great powers as the Autobots and Decepticons struggle to locate the Cube. Meanwhile, United States military officers fight the evil Decepticons at home in the United States, in cyberspace (as the Decepticons search for information regarding the Cube), and abroad in Qatar, where United States military forces have been deployed in the GWOT. The existence of the GWOT in this fictional universe isn’t the only trace of reality to find its way into T. As I will demonstrate in the following essay, T is not only a product of its time, but a product of a collaborative effort between the film’s creators and the United States Department of Defense (DoD) to create a piece of military propaganda meant to legitimize United States military presence in the Middle East. First, I will conduct a review of two significant pieces of existing literature on the topic, contextualizing the movie within a political and economic framework. Then, I will dive deep into T itself, examining its overarching themes of American exceptionalism and interventionalism.
In his essay “Transforming Transformers into Militainment: Interrogating the DoD-Hollywood Complex,” Tanner Mirrlees makes use of an interesting word: “militainment (military entertainment)” (Mirrlees 407). Militainment films serve a dual purpose, making money and painting the US military in a “positive light” on a global scale (407). As Mirrlees explains, this sort of film, often a product of direct collaboration between the DoD and Hollywood, is not new. “The formation of the DoD-Hollywood complex stretches back to the early 20th century,” and has brought us such hit films as Top Gun and Saving Private Ryan (409, 411). Militainment’s ubiquity lends it a certain invisibility in popular culture, but this does not make it harmless. In Mirrlees’s words, “Militainment short circuits democracy by turning the violence of the state into an object of pleasurable consumption as opposed to a subject of public deliberation” (408). Militainment works positive images of the US military deep into the public conscience of not just the United States, but of every country that consumes United States-produced militainment. That T is an example of militainment is no secret: Michael Bay states his cooperation with the DoD outright, going as far as to include members of the DoD in the credits of T (415).
In his Master’s thesis American Socio-Politics in Fictional Context: Transformers and the Representation of the United States, David William Underwood makes a case for the Transformers franchise, and T in particular, as an advertisement for American interventionalism (the tendency of the United States to insert itself into foreign affairs as a paternalistic savior figure). This interventionalism is usually in the name of peace and democratic progress, “with the United States as ‘the embodiment of freedom and liberty’ in the world” (Underwood 84). Fictional support for American interventionalism is common in Transformers media, which tends to perpetuate “this perception of American intervention overseas as humanitarian operations that are in the best interests of the people of those nations rather than activities that are in the United States’ interests” (84). T is no exception. Underwood picks out one particular aspect of T as embodying the spirit of benevolent interventionalism: the interaction between a Qatari child named Mahfouz and the United States soldiers occupying Qatar. “Mahfouz” translates to “‘the protected one’ in Arabic,” a name that “is somewhat indicative of his role amongst the US forces” (84). The occupying soldiers and the native inhabitants of Qatar are shown to interact peacefully, and
From this, it is possible to extrapolate a certain view of how America believes - or hopes - itself to be perceived in the world. This perception is one of a friendly, ultimately benevolent nation that seeks to improve the quality of life and personal situations of people living in the countries in which they establish a presence. (84)
During one interaction between the United States soldiers and the Qatari citizens, an encounter with a Decepticon leading to a United States airstrike leaves a small Qatari town in ruins (00:40:00-00:50:00 Bay). Despite this, “there is nothing to suggest that there is any unhappiness with the US military presence” (84). Instead, the town is portrayed as helpless, in need of defense by the friendly United States military. Here and throughout the film, America’s presence in Qatar is never questioned. Do the families of the 929,000 victims of the GWOT feel that America was friendly to them (Crawford 1)? Do they feel as though they were protected from danger?
This relationship, the relationship between colonizer and colonized, is depicted in a positive light not only in the real-world example of the United States’ presence in the Middle East, but also through a fictionalized version of the same dynamic. In T, Earth becomes a battleground between two great powers seeking a source of energy hidden somewhere inaccessible. The similarities between this arrangement and that of the colonization of the Middle East, a region often fought over due to its supply of oil, cannot be overlooked, especially when the Autobots are so strongly associated with the United States. Optimus Prime is painted red and blue, the colors of the American flag. Furthermore, Optimus describes the Cybertron of the past, a Cybertron ruled by Autobots, as “a powerful empire, peaceful and just” (Bay 01:04:30). This language is shockingly similar to the language Underwood uses to describe America’s self-perception, “a friendly, ultimately benevolent nation” which imposes its will on other nations as it sees fit (Underwood 84). Even the relationship between Sam Witwicky and the Autobots mirrors that of the relationship between the American soldiers and Mahfouz. Just as Mahfouz assists the American soldiers in the scene beginning at 00:19:00, in which he leads the soldiers to his village to use his father’s phone, Sam assists the Autobots in finding a pair of glasses that can be used to locate the Cube (Bay). Sam feels protective of the Autobots despite the harm they have caused on Earth, even risking his life and facing down armed soldiers to protect Bumblebee (Bay 01:44:00).
Alongside interventionalism runs the cultural thread of American exceptionalismAmerican exceptionalism, the insidious justification for colonialism that haunts the national story of the United States. Mirrlees defines American exceptionalism as “the idea that the United States has a unique role to play in the world, to lead and shape it, to protect the world from threats to it” (Mirrlees 420). This theme plays a large role in T, as the reader may have gathered during the discussion on interventionalism. It is because America feels it has something to offer the world that it feels justified in enforcing its will on other “less developed” nations, often without their consent, often by force. That this ideology played a role in the GWOT is evident in American descriptions of the GWOT. Former president George Bush is quoted as saying, “Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated” (Bush qtd. in “Global War on Terror”). The United States feels (or at least felt, during the GWOT), that it has a responsibility to keep the entire world safe from any threat, real or imagined. That the United States plays this “unique role” as the imagined head of the world is not a universally accepted point of view. It is, as Underwood puts it, “contentious outside of America,” and has, at times, been contentious inside the country as well (Underwood 83). Perhaps this is why the DoD was so keen on supporting a film that portrays American exceptionalism and interventionalism as absolute truths and universal goods, never questioned by the characters or the narrative. In fact, the narrative is built on the idea that the United States is the most powerful nation in the world, both the obvious target of a hypothetical alien invasion and the obvious best defense against that invasion.
At 00:07:30, the Decepticons begin their attack on the United States and, more specifically, on the American military intelligence network (Bay). Why the United States is the first and only target of this cyberattack is never considered. This plotline, which is integral to the film as it gives a reason for United States military engagement with the Transformers, reinforces and normalizes the idea that the United States is the greatest nation in the world, the one that aliens would notice first should they invade. Furthermore, when they invade, that the United States would take immediate violent action across international borders is also never questioned. At 00:17:50, the DoD dispatches troops internationally to fight the rising Decepticon threat mere minutes after the threat arises (Bay). There is no discussion of possible nonviolent solutions, no concern for the legality of international intervention, and no concern for the damage military action could (and does, as evidenced by the aforementioned bombing of the Qatari town) do to civilians. The United States responds to threats with immediate force, regardless of whether or not the threat is in America.
As in reality, in the film, American exceptionalism is propped up on racist stereotypes. At 00:29:00, a character says technology capable of hacking an American military network is “way too advanced for Iranian scientists” (Bay). In fact, according to the character Maggie Madsen, a computer scientist, even a “super computer” would take “twenty years” to infiltrate American networks (Bay 00:37:00). American technology, then, is superior not only to that of Middle Eastern countries, but paradoxically, to technology itself.
It is important to remember while considering the above information that T was not merely a creative project. It was designed with the intent to function as military propaganda in collaboration with the DoD. Not every film about the United States military receives DoD support. In fact, there are specific guidelines films must follow in order to gain DoD support. These requirements are outlined in the DoD’s Instruction 5410.16. They are extensive, but three stand out to me. First, the film must benefit the DoD and be in the “best interest of the Nation” (U.S. Department of Defense qtd. in Mirrlees 412). Second, the film must somehow aid in recruitment efforts for the United States military (Mirrlees 412). Third, the film must involve real military personnel and use real DoD equipment (412). Evidently, then, it benefits the DoD to portray American occupation of the Middle East as benevolent. Furthermore, the DoD at best does not mind and at worst benefits from racist remarks such as the aforementioned Iran comment.
T, then, is not just an entertaining movie about giant space robots. It is a carefully and deliberately crafted attempt to work DoD-sponsored propaganda into the public consciousness via pop culture. Projects like this one, which are by their nature colonial (see pages 3-4), are perhaps the most insidious form of propaganda. Though an individual may be on guard against propaganda in expected places like military advertisements and presidential speeches, they may not be prepared to encounter it in the movie theater. Perhaps just one film won’t make much of a difference in the collective consciousness of a nation, but this is merely an example of a trend. In his essay, Mirrlees mentions over twenty films by name, and there is evidence that thousands of films may share similar origin stories with T (Mirrlees 413, 410). How has the DoD influenced your thoughts on America and its colonization of the Middle East? Art is never just art, especially when it’s funded by the DoD. Every piece of media contains a message, so next time you sit down to watch a movie, ask yourself: is there more to your entertainment than meets the eye?
Bay, Michael, director. Transformers. DreamWorks Pictures, 2007.
Crawford, Neta C. and Catherine Lutz. “Human Cost of Post-9/11 Wars: Direct War Deaths in Major War Zones, Afghanistan & Pakitan (Oct. 2001-Aug. 2021); Iraq (March 2003-Aug. 2021); Syria (Sept. 2014-May 2021); Yemen (Oct. 2002-Aug. 2021) and Other Post-9/11 War Zones.” Costs of War. 2021.
“Global War on Terror.” George W. Bush Presidential Library, https://www. georgewbushlibrary.gov/research/topic-guides/global-war-on-terror. Accessed 25 Nov. 2023.
Hanh, Thich Nhat. “Mindful Consumption.” Parallax Press, Parallax Press, 22 Nov. 2022, www.parallax.org/mindfulnessbell/article/mindful-consumption/.
“Colonialism.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/colonialism. Accessed 25 Nov. 2023.
“Middle East.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc., 30 Nov. 2023, www.britannica.com/place/Middle-East.
Mirrlees, Tanner. “Transforming Transformers into Militainment: Interrogating the DoD-Hollywood Complex.” American Journal of Economics and Sociology, vol. 76, no. 2, pp. 405-434.
Ruefle, Mary. On Imagination. Sarabande Books, 2017.
Underwood, David Williams. American Socio-Politics in Fictional Context: Transformers and the Representation of the United States. 2013. University of East Anglia, Masters of Arts by Research dissertation.