Internally, the US government was also fearful of losing power within its nation. This is already evident in the opening of the documentary which showed the nuclear bomb testing in Bikini Atoll, where the American public were filled with skepticism. This led to Vice Admiral Blandy, Commander of the Bikini Test justifying himself, “the bomb will not start a chain reaction in the water, converting it all to gas and letting all the ships on all the oceans drop down to the bottom. It will not blow out the bottom of the sea and let all the water run down the hole. It will not destroy gravity.” As the documentary progresses, it can be inferred that the US government felt the threat of losing their people’s trust especially during the Korean War.
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Despite the possession of nuclear weapons, the Americans were still fearful for their own health and safety. This fear was successfully instilled into the citizens through propaganda films which also shaped their culture. Due to the citizens’ lack of knowledge about nuclear destruction and radioactivity during the development of the atomic bomb, the US government conditioned and prepared them for sudden nuclear attacks through spreading propaganda in various ways including authoritative figures calling for support in the use of atomic bombs against opposing armies, “duck and cover” technique, fallout shelters, etc. This spread of propaganda provoked and shaped the Americans beliefs into anticipating the threat of potential atomic bomb attacks. This fear is evident in a scene in the documentary where people on the streets were interviewed whether the hydrogen bomb should be built, and all interviewees all agreed to it. Furthermore, it is acknowledged that 85% of the Americans were worried about the effects of the bomb in one of the US Army films. The Americans built fallout shelters as instructed by the US government to protect themselves from nuclear attacks and radioactivity. This contrasted sharply with two professors’ (Professor Melman and Mario Salvadori) opinion on the shelters who characterized them to be “desperately futile” and that the shelters “push the Americans and Russians into thinking more of having a war”, diminishing the effects of the fallout shelter. Fear was also demonstrated in the documentary where the US army film mentioned about the “falsehoods” circulating about the radiation effects, which suggests that the people do know about the destructive effects of nuclear
Despite the possession of nuclear weapons, the Americans were still fearful for their own health and safety. This fear was successfully instilled into the citizens through propaganda films which also shaped their culture. Due to the citizens’ lack of knowledge about nuclear destruction and radioactivity during the development of the atomic bomb, the US government conditioned and prepared them for sudden nuclear attacks through spreading propaganda in various ways including authoritative figures calling for support in the use of atomic bombs against opposing armies, “duck and cover” technique, fallout shelters, etc. This spread of propaganda provoked and shaped the Americans beliefs into anticipating the threat of potential atomic bomb attacks. This fear is evident in a scene in the documentary where people on the streets were interviewed whether the hydrogen bomb should be built, and all interviewees all agreed to it. Furthermore, it is acknowledged that 85% of the Americans were worried about the effects of the bomb in one of the US Army films. The Americans built fallout shelters as instructed by the US government to protect themselves from nuclear attacks and radioactivity. This contrasted sharply with two professors’ (Professor Melman and Mario Salvadori) opinion on the shelters who characterized them to be “desperately futile” and that the shelters “push the Americans and Russians into thinking more of having a war”, diminishing the effects of the fallout shelter. Fear was also demonstrated in the documentary where the US army film mentioned about the “falsehoods” circulating about the radiation effects, which suggests that the people do know about the destructive effects of nuclear