Pearl Harbor: How Film Conquers History

One of the epic moments in the American political experience, Pearl Harbor has been the subject of continuous historical analysis as well as cinematic documentation and representation—and remains a topic of debate to this day. As the event which triggered US entry into World War II, it fundamentally altered the way Americans came to view the global arena and the US place within it. Although Pearl Harbor at the time symbolized national defeat and humiliation at the hands of the Japanese, the event has been celebrated in endless ceremonies, rituals, books, TV specials, monuments, and movies, emerging as a defining moment of the “good war” legacy. This article explores the distinctive film output associated with Pearl Harbor, with particular focus on Michael Bay's 2001 blockbuster Pearl Harbor, and argues that this movie (among others) so systematically distorts and mystifies the actual historical record as to thoroughly “remake” the event and everything surrounding it for public consumption.