How the American Worldview Informs Our Understanding of War

In Ben Fountain’s Billy Lynn’s Halftime Walk, the narrative draws out similarities between football and war to convey an underlying fascination with, and obsession of, violence that plagues the American conscience. In its treatment of war as a spectacle or source of entertainment for the general public, the text speaks to the larger issue of how 21^st century terrorism challenges feelings of American exceptionalism and national identity that inform the American understanding of war.

Through repeated interaction between the general public and Bravo Squad, the text reveals a latent fascination with violence that dominates the American psyche. The novel demonstrates an inextricable tie between football and American values, as the crowd chants “U-S-A! U-S-A!” (128) and the playing of the national anthem before the game assumes an almost-religious status (203-207). The link between football and war reveals an underlying fascination of violence, as several Cowboys confront Billy about the experience of being on the frontlines. Beyond simply asking what weapons Billy carries, Octavian’s questions reveal a perverted obsession with violence, as he presses Billy for information, asking, “So what it do … When you pop somebody” (177). After Billy explains the results, “The players suck in their breath. ‘Unh’, someone murmurs, as if biting into something juicy and sweet.” (177). This reaction indicates death and violence elicit a sensual response, as the players react to the description of brute violence with carnal delight. Evidence of an unhealthy obsession with violence is further demonstrated through the questions posed by the media, whom focus on the grisly details of Billy’s war experience. Essentially asking Billy for a play-by-play of his battlefield actions, the media ask questions such as, “What did you do when you got to him?”, “You shot them?”, and “They were dead?” (136-137). The detail-oriented nature of these questions reveal the audience’s unhealthy desire to picture every gross detail, as his grisly answers evoke “thunderous applause” (137) from the audience.

The American obsession with violence functions to portray war as a spectacle or source of entertainment for the American public. Understanding war as a spectacle is introduced through March Hawey, who relays his personal story of Bravo Team’s famous mission. Telling of the night, March states, “Listen, when the news broke that night … that was one of the biggest thrills of my life, no lie … just a beautiful moment” (192). By framing a life-or-death mission as a ‘thrill’ or ‘beautiful’, March’s experience conveys how war is treated as a spectacle or art form that provides entertainment for the American viewer. Furthermore, in reaction to seeing the video, March states, “It was cathartic … Seeing yall John Wayne that deal, it’s like we finally had something to cheer about” (193). The use of ‘John Wayne’ as a verb directly links Bravo Team’s experience with art and cinema, and conveys the theatric or dramatic presentation of their actions to the lay public. Furthermore, the Internet’s ability to sensationalize and heroize Bravo Team’s actions reveal how America understands war as a spectacle, as the video of Bravo Team in the Al-Ansakar Canal goes viral through the web with such taglines as “Bravo snuff movie” or “America’s throbbing cock of justice” (288). Attaching crude and humorous titles to authentic war experience trivializes the concept of war at large, and reveals battle is presented as a form of spectacle or entertainment to the general public.

By linking football with the experience of war, the novel conveys an unhealthy obsession with violence that dominates the American conscience, in which Americans view war as a spectacle or source of entertainment. This worldview seems to be informed by the historical record and feelings of American exceptionalism, which have traditionally understood war to be a distant event that occurs in foreign countries. This perception of war as an abstract or faraway event is bolstered through one woman’s account, who approaches Billy and states, “I couldn’t stop watching those planes crash into the towers, I just couldn’t … I had to keep telling myself … this is not a movie” (44). The disbelief conveyed in this account reveals how September 11^th challenges the traditional understanding of war. For the first time in over 60 years, war becomes an immediate and local event rather than an abstract and faraway spectacle. Unable to cope with the immediacy of the event, the text reveals Americans tend to retreat to their traditional understanding of war as a spectacle or source of entertainment – a thought pattern that is shaped by American history and America’s record of war.