Some Restrictions Apply: The Exhibition Spaces of Guantanamo Bay

Employing the American Sniper (Clint Eastwood, 2014) premiere at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base's Downtown Lyceum theater as a case study, this article analyzes media spectatorship through a particularized exhibition and reception context. It also explores how the US military operationalizes entertainment media screened for both detainees and personnel to biopolitically regulate opposition and manage bodies and affective responses. In addition, the article conceptualizes the detention facility itself as an exhibition space through the site's rigorously managed media tours. These tours promote strategically delimited vantages of Guantanamo for both visiting observers and media viewers at a distance.