The Host: America Is The New Red Mennace

Finally saw The Host last night, holy moley, that's a good movie, and man, that's an AMAZING monster, but that's not what we're here to talk about. Maybe everyone else already knows this, but I just realized. America is the new Red Menace.

You remember who Rambo fought? Russians. Rocky IV? Russians. Top Gun? Russians. Red Heat? Russians. Why? Powerful, scary, unpredictable, unloved enemy.

Now, I think that specter is the US of A. I'm not talking about the case where a director says "I am going to make a nuanced political statement about the international policies of America". I'm talking about the case where a director says "I need the shorthand for a big scary menacing force" It seems to me that it's now the case that America is the default bad guy, it's not a discourse, or commentary, it's just taken as read, it's cliche, it's background, zietgiest.

That's a bit of a problem for the US.