‘Civil War’ and the Dangerous Myth of ‘Unbiased’ Journalism
In Alex Garland’s Civil War, America is rendered into an almost unrecognizable nightmare. Our president is a fascist going on his third term. California and Texas have somehow found enough common ground to secede as allies. And, as all of this unfolds, the fictional journalists at the center of the film remain largely unfazed by the chaos, grounded in their mission to be perfectly neutral documentarians of their country’s downfall.
Civil War’s motley crew includes Lee (Kirsten Dunst), a celebrated combat photographer; Joel, (Wagner Moura) a thrill-seeking Reuters reporter; Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) an aging journalist at the increasingly irrelevant New York Times eager for one last adventure; and aspiring photojournalist, Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), who idolizes Lee. Together, the group sets off for the nation’s capital, hoping to get inside the White House as it falls to the “Western Forces.” (Warning: Some spoilers for the film lie ahead.)
Garland completed the script in 2020, but four years later, it’s being released into a completely different world—one in which images of clearly-marked press under fire immediately conjures up parallels to the ongoing war in Gaza, and raises thorny questions about the role of journalists in an unfolding conflict.