Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Somewhere "Over the Horizon"

2022; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 74; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/aq.2022.0035

1080-6490

Mary L. Dudziak,

Gothic Literature and Media Analysis

Somewhere "Over the Horizon" Mary L. Dudziak (bio) I am everywhere, but to the eyes of common mortals, I am invisible. —the Wizard of Oz On August 31, 2021, President Joe Biden announced that the war in Afghanistan had ended. It was the nation's longest war, he emphasized, thereby severing one segment of the post-9/11 "war on terror" from all the rest.1 Whatever this war had been, he made it clear that the use of US deadly military force in the region would continue. "We will maintain the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan and other countries," Biden emphasized. How could this be consistent with the dramatic pronouncement that the war had ended? He explained: "We just don't need to fight a ground war to do it. We have what's called over-the-horizon capabilities, which means we can strike terrorists and targets without American boots on the ground—or very few, if needed."2 With this statement, US military conflict was reimagined. It would occur in an imaginary space, somewhere beyond the clouds, a place where Americans would not be harmed, yet it would ensure comfort and security in what is now called the homeland.3 Magical thinking about faraway places has of course been a staple in American culture. In a widely known example, the film The Wizard of Oz, a girl named Dorothy wondered to her dog Toto about whether there was a faraway place "where there isn't any trouble." Breaking into song, she imagined that it was "behind the moon, beyond the rain." As storm clouds hovered above the isolated, sepia-hued farm scene, she thought that "somewhere over the rainbow" was a paradise where bluebirds flew and dreams came true.4 Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has been described as a critique of the gold standard and a parable on populism.5 Changes to the story in the 1939 film, such as enhancing the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, Christian Caryl suggests, reflected fears about the rise of Nazism.6 The film has a happy ending, however. Dorothy defeats tyranny, and then goes home. The most resonant part of this war story is not her victory, however; it is that the conflict and terror do not occur in Dorothy's Kansas. US war has been fought in faraway places for some time, and battles closer to home are marginalized in American memory.7 [End Page 552] Even World War II was "over the horizon" for most Americans. US territories were bombed, but not the forty-eight states. Civilians on the US mainland did not have to flee for their safety, as did Hawaiians and others in US island territories, but Americans at home nevertheless imagined themselves as sharing the experience of "total war." Some worked long shifts in war production, and many had family members deployed, but the experience of the war's totality was significantly shaped by government war mobilization efforts, including the calibrated release of images of carnage for publication. It was a government project to encourage Americans to feel that they were personally involved in a distant conflict.8 In contrast to World War II, Americans now are often oblivious to the use of deadly force on their behalf. The film rendition of The Wizard of Oz captures this feature of contemporary distant war. As Dorothy, the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion battle a witch seeking to eliminate them, Dorothy's Auntie Em back in Kansas is completely unaware. After Dorothy's ruby slippers bring her home, her aunt and uncle dismiss her efforts to explain the conflict, thinking it was a dream. Like Auntie Em's experience, most American war is largely invisible within the United States. When information is available, paying attention is nevertheless optional.9 In Biden's war plans, even soldiers in combat zones are optional. Robots can do the work. Flying robots, otherwise known as drones, are very good at killing people. They have often proved to be poor, however, at killing the intended targets.10 The problem is not with the drones themselves, national security experts have suggested. Instead, the lack...