"A Challenge to Democracy"

The film, “A Challenge to Democracy,” is an attempt by the American government to justify the Japanese internment camps during World War II. The film was produced by the War Relocation Authority and is full of distorted information meant to intentionally mislead the American public into believing that these camps weren’t so bad.

The film begins by stating that the Japanese were relocated to these camps due to a military hazard at a time when the threat of invasion was high. They were not relocated due to disloyalty and were not under suspicion in any way. 100,000 were relocated in 1942; 2/3 of those relocated were American citizens by law. They were relocated in out of the way places, mostly in the dessert. They were kept in large communities surrounded by a wire fence. Each family was given a 20’x25’ room with only a stove, a light bulb, cots, mattresses, and blankets. The film also explains that they were fed nutritious food, but only enough to sustain them. However, the film presents all of this information in a very positive way. These camps are described as communities within themselves. There was school and many jobs within the camps. They had their own government and even their own judicial system. However, most workers began at a wage of only $12 per month. The first people to leave these camps went to harvest sugar beets on large plantations. However, most of these workers returned, and the government only allowed families that they thought to be loyal to leave the camps. Those who were not eligible were all moved to one camp where they stayed until the war was over. The film ends showing how the Japanese eventually integrated nicely into the American society. The film shows many Japanese workers working in many different positions and even shows the Japanese joining the army and fighting for their country. This film connects with chapter ten of Takaki. Takaki writes of how the Japanese were discriminated against on the sugar plantations, and how eventually their hopes of assimilating into the American culture were devastated with the attack on Pearl Harbor. This film builds on what Takaki concludes. The film explains how the Japanese were treated with the start of WWII in our country and what they had to overcome to get where they are today.

Do the positions of those who produced this film affect the information that is presented? I think that the film is very much affected by the positions of those who produced it. The film was produced by the War Relocation Authority, and the information presented is distorted in a way that makes the camps look much better than what they actually were. It almost looks like these camps were a good place to live according to the film when in reality these people were forcibly removed from their homes. They didn’t want to be there at all and the film does not show this whatsoever. Overall, the film is very biased and does not truthfully show how these concentration camps actually were.

While watching the film, I immediately became aware of the way in which the film illustrated the concentration camps. In high school I learned that the Japanese were forced to leave their homes and live in these horrible concentration camps. The film shows that the camps weren’t all that bad and that it was necessary for the security of our country. I don’t agree with the way in which the information is presented and think that the film is extremely one-sided.