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Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

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Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

#61

Post by TaylorAlexander »

cm2187 wrote: post #39
heavyset_go wrote: post #7

Once this was pointed out, I can't unsee it. It's kind of ruined movies that involves the military or military equipment for me, since it can be really obvious when creators toe the line for the military. When I see military equipment my gut reaction is to anticipate the other shoe dropping, and to look for shoehorned hero worship or some good-versus-evil plot point.

I think Hollywood is lot less subtle now at trying to push political propaganda than it was ever then, except that wokeism is the theme of the day. In some instances it has completely taken over the plot, like in the last season of Fargo, to the point of becoming some sort of unwatcheable catechism.

> I think Hollywood is lot less subtle now at trying to push political propaganda

I think the past efforts were pretty blatant. I think we just know more about how they operate and so it becomes easier to see.

> wokeism

Would love to know what this means.

Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

#62

Post by elcapitan »

kklisura wrote: post #24

Tangentially: Isn't it interesting that no anti-war movies are being produced anymore? I'm guessing it might be because we're living in a bit more peaceful times than before and there is no need for such movies, but also access to military equipment for producing such movies would be very limited.

Or it reflects that the two genres merged to a degree, because of a more nuanced understanding? Recent war movies like "Dunkirk" don't really show traditional heroism, they show a very bleak version of war, with the soldiers mostly surviving rather than fighting. "1917", while showing a heroic act of one (or two) main characters, also used imagery and portrayal of military and higher ranks that is essentially a reference to classical anti-war movies.

Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

#63

Post by xcambar »

Aside from military, this tactic became obvious to me when space became (again) a theater of conquest around 2010, involving both private and public sectors, internationally.

The narrative around space became very strong, sending messages of conquest, entrepreneurship, science, dreams, you name it.

At the exact same period, bloomed movies like: Mission to Mars, Gravity, Interstellar.

I won't be surprised to see a surge of interest in space-related careers in younger generations in years to come.

Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

#64

Post by pydry »

MaxHoppersGhost wrote: post #16
heavyset_go wrote: post #7

Once this was pointed out, I can't unsee it. It's kind of ruined movies that involves the military or military equipment for me, since it can be really obvious when creators toe the line for the military. When I see military equipment my gut reaction is to anticipate the other shoe dropping, and to look for shoehorned hero worship or some good-versus-evil plot point.

Americans love that stuff though, it’s not necessarily propaganda forced down our throats. We’d still want to see the badass, all American commando on a 100 kill streak.

Effective propaganda gets internalized.

Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

#65

Post by JPLeRouzic »

Barrin92 wrote: post #14

one graphic that stuck with me, that I saw a few years ago is this one ( https://imgur.com/svsB0Ub ) (question being: which nation, according to you, contributed most to the defeat of Germany?" Being German and having Russian relatives the perspective on the war on the continent has always been interesting to me. The sheer scale and brutality of the Eastern front, the war crimes and death (The Soviet Union lost more…

I am a French citizen 65 year old. I remember that my father was bombed by US in Rennes (luckily he went out safe). Most ports on Atlantic coast were completely destroyed by US bombers and many towns (Lorient, Saint-Malo, Brest, etc) had to be completely rebuilt. Many people were displaced, homeless and had to be relocated in shelters. This lasted until the 60", see [0]

Yet now, for French people and media, destructions and people displacements were all the fault of Nazi's Germany. And for medias, the time after war was an happy time "les trente glorieuses" [1].

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abb%C3%A9_Pierre#Winter_1954:_...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trente_Glorieuses

Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

#68

Post by mhh__ »

camillomiller wrote: post #25
Barrin92 wrote: post #14

one graphic that stuck with me, that I saw a few years ago is this one ( https://imgur.com/svsB0Ub ) (question being: which nation, according to you, contributed most to the defeat of Germany?" Being German and having Russian relatives the perspective on the war on the continent has always been interesting to me. The sheer scale and brutality of the Eastern front, the war crimes and death (The Soviet Union lost more…

Try asking most people about the Vietnam War, then visit Vietnam, especially the war museum in Saigon. Then pay a visit to the Landmine museum outside of Siam Reap, in Cambodia, to learn about Nixon's secret war that carpeted the border between Cambodia and Vietnam with bombs and landmines without anyone knowing. That's a trip that would make you rethink America big time. It absolutely did for me. As an Italian, I wa…

"Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia – the fruits of his genius for statesmanship – and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milošević"

Anthony Bourdain, in "A Cook's Tour: Global Adventures in Extreme Cuisines"

Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

#69

Post by veidelis »

Barrin92 wrote: post #14

one graphic that stuck with me, that I saw a few years ago is this one ( https://imgur.com/svsB0Ub ) (question being: which nation, according to you, contributed most to the defeat of Germany?" Being German and having Russian relatives the perspective on the war on the continent has always been interesting to me. The sheer scale and brutality of the Eastern front, the war crimes and death (The Soviet Union lost more…

> The Soviet Union lost more than 15% of its population!

When?

Re: Pentagon and CIA shaped thousands of Hollywood movies into effective propaganda

#70

Post by PaulAJ »

prmoustache wrote: post #20

I cringe every time I hear the US president being described as the leader of the free world, as if there were 2 specific sides and USA were leading it and as if USA was an advocate for freedom.

Up until 1990 that was a reasonable approximation to the truth. The USA certainly had its issues, but in a comparison between the USA and the USSR there was no question about who the relatively good guys were.

Since the USSR collapsed, and especially since 9/11, things have gotten a lot murkier.

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