Documentary film provided soldiers with validating evidence for their existing doubts about the war.

Evidence

But as he watched the movie, he started wondering, Am I out here for somebody’s personal gain? Am I out here trying to help somebody else advance? What am I really out here for? He was convinced by the movie. He and his clique had had questions before, but now they had something to affirm their position, a cultural artifact replete with evidence, documents, statistics, and footage. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 280

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the book’s broader theme that Arab Americans’ doubts find validation through cultural artifacts, and echoes the ‘confirmation through external evidence’ pattern central to media effects research.