Abstract :
Social movements began to emerge during the Enlightenment era in the 18th century. Meanwhile, social movements in America began to expand during the 19th century, with the aim of connecting the voice of citizens to the government. Social movements are one example of political actions that can affect public opinion and policy. It?s not a new phenomenon for the Hollywood movie industry to create historical-themed films as a portrayal of social movements in America, one of which is The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020). Unfortunately, many people in America had negative views towards the movement as a result of the riots at the Democratic National Convention in 1968.
This research uses a descriptive-qualitative method by applying the political process theory by Doug McAdam and the semiotic theory by Roland Barthes. The purpose of this research is to create a new perspective on the anti-Vietnam War movement as a part of historical events based on the representation in the modern film The Trial of the Chicago 7.
From the results of this research, it was found that there are three key elements that influenced the anti-Vietnam War movement: political opportunities, organizational strength, and cognitive liberation. In addition, there are three aspects to the portrayal of the anti-Vietnam War movement: portrayal of the characters, disruptive protest tactics, and oppression by the government.