Couldn't that be a sign that the propaganda has been effective?

This is an example of the logical fallacy petitio principii (begging the question).

Alternatively, it could be taken as a honest question: do they actually want it because of the propaganda, or would they want it regardless of the propaganda?

Inferring tone from text is a bitch.

It's begging the question in either interpretation, hence why you can't really answer the question.

That’s my understanding. The US military approach is basically “we’ll provide real gear and vehicles as long as your movie doesn’t put us in a negative light”. It’s basically the military getting free advertising in return.

I get the sense most blockbuster Hollywood movies fit that bill quite well with minimal edits. The more niche, gritty movies that talk about the unpleasant/controversial events/aspects probably don’t even ask for help.

As for the CIA??

Not just Americans. See 'Wolf Warrior', and 'Wolf Warrior 2', currently the second highest-grossing Chinese movie.

"China bad" is one of the primary goals of western propaganda.

Start looking out for any online discussion involving anti-Asian racism / attacks, the housing crisis, etc. and you'll see posts like "but what about the CPP?" and "aren't Asians the most racist against blacks?"

https://twitter.com/alanrmacleod/status/1474350856476762115?...

Equating anti-CCP sentiment with anti Asian propaganda is gaslighting.

That’s like anti-Putin sentiment being equal to being racist against Slavs.

The point is that many speak as if anti-CCP sentiment -justifies- anything which is anti-Asian.

In what way is "but CCP bad" an appropriate response to "another old Chinese lady brutally attacked on the street"?

Also bold of us to assume the media is honest about the CCP when it is not even honest about domestic politicians.

My bet is that most groups have this in them. Being right, being the hero. America just had the lead in entertainment and tech

I grew up watching Soviet movies about war, which usually depict very different picture. Sure, there are heroes, but they are not super heroes as in American movies. They get injured, die. Soviet war movies show that wars really suck.

Some UK war movies fall into the "wars really suck" category - an obvious example being The Cruel Sea based on the novel by Nicholas Monsarrat who served in Royal Navy during the Battle of the Atlantic:

"This is a story of the Battle of the Atlantic, the story of the ocean, two ships, and a handful of men. The men are the heroes; the heroines the ships. The only villain is the sea, the cruel sea that man has made more cruel."

In my experience, other countries don't view themselves that way, and it's mostly seen as an Americanism (I'm not American)

Long time ago I heard this joke: Ship is sinking, the captain needs to tell everybody 'women and children first' . So to the british: you are gentlemen, aren't you? To japanese passengers: look what everybody else is doing. To US-American: you guys want to be heros?

Maybe to a lesser extent but you can find Indian movies of absurd heroism too. That's what propped me to think America is not very special.

Also being a young and rich state probably pushed things to eleven.

I wouldn't say "being young" is that relevant after a couple centuries. Nobody in the US today knows someone who witnessed the declaration of independence (unlike, say, in Israel or India).

Probably. But I believe there's still a notion that they're new players who got everything right to the top. While other countries have seen peaks and valleys.

That is also true for the police. Usually the police is incompetent if you want to be funny, or they are suffering humans. The police as a hero is also USA propaganda.

British war films made 1939-1945 were explicitly propaganda. And there was a lot of them.

Effective propaganda gets internalized.

If you haven't played Bro Force: https://www.broforcegame.com/

An extreme caricature of American Military! Amazing game too.

A ‘caricature’ or ‘glorification’ ?

yes

Hwæt?! I think it's more than just modern Americans who love(d) heroic war stories. Look at J. Caesar, look at the knightly romances from the Middle Ages -- the latter are especially sanitized, the former were probably bloodied up a bit. The pursuit of that kill streak has been a genre for a really long time. I thought it was common knowledge that the US Government helped it along here and there and has in one medium or another since the beginning. There is a Maldon for every few Beowulfs though.

Note that Hollywood movies get shown throughout the world, for better or for worse.

Unpalatable propaganda is pretty shitty propaganda.

I'm not sure about others, but I'm reading this comment with an implied /s