DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
May 14, 2009

1. Why was Hollywood such a target of anti-communist concern?  What specifically made it a threat?
2. In the McCarthy era, how and why did the question of morality become entwined with concerns over communism?  What specifically caused the concern?
3. According to Sbardellati and Shaw, "The Chaplin case shows that heterosexuals could be suspect as well, especially if they violated gender norms that were increasingly linked to the Cold War struggle."  What were those "norms" and how were the linked to the Cold War struggle?
4. According to Robert Torry, "...The Day the Earth Stood Still, despite its aura of pacifism, advocates an American will to use nuclear weaponry to meet communist expansion [and] ...advocates abandoning containment as practiced by the Truman administration."  In viewing the movie, what evidence (scenes, language, etc.) is there to support such a contention?
5. In the article Apocalypse Then... the author quotes Krin Gibbard who asserts that the movie "...takes a stand against the anti-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era."  What specific evidence from the movie (scenes, language, etc.) would support such a contention?