An Analysis of Hollywood Movies as an Instrument of US-Soft Power: Gramcian Model (2000-2020)

Abstract

The basis of the concept of power in international relations was long-standing based on the existence of military and economic capabilities. Nevertheless, in the post-Cold War period, the cultural authority, especially Hollywood, has become one of the vital components of U.S. influence on the world. This study examines Hollywood cinema as an instrument of American soft power and how Hollywood movies propagate American political ideals including democracy, liberty, moral authority and world citizenship thereby strengthening American hegemony in the evolving multipolar world. The paper analyzes how the ideological dominance in the works of Antonio Gramsci is converted into the cultural endorsement of the film and how it affects the world views of the U.S. political leadership. Concentrating on the timeline between 2000 and 2020, the time frame of the War on Terror and the re-establishment of the American hegemony in a changing geopolitical perspective, this work explores the role of Hollywood films in sustaining and adapting American power in the new geopolitical environment. The study employs the qualitative, interpretivist methodology, which evaluates a purposive sample of films as both political and cultural texts that support and perpetuate global power dynamics. The main sources are movies that are examined and discussed according to the themes of freedom, heroism, patriotism, technological progress, and the righteousness. The theoretical framework is based on secondary data on soft power, cultural hegemony, and media globalization in scholarly literature. Qualitative content analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) are used in the study in order to identify the ideological connotations inherent in these movies and to analyze how Hollywood discourses justify American dominance in the international arena. By positioning Hollywood in the frames of cultural power, this study contributes to a better comprehension of the way in which cultural production sustains the hegemonic power in the present international relations.