America: Imagine a World Without Him is a 2014 American political documentary by Dinesh D'Souza based on his book of the same name. This is a follow-up for the movie 2016: Obama's America (2012). In the film, D'Souza argues that part of US history is incorrectly and negatively highlighted by liberals, whom he seeks to fight with positive spotlight. The topics covered include land seizures of Native Americans and Mexicans, slavery, and matters relating to foreign policy and capitalism. D'Souza collaborated with John Sullivan and Bruce Schooley to tailor his book with the same name into a scenario. D'Souza produced the film with Gerald R. Molen and directed it with Sullivan. The film combines historical shows with interviews with different political figures.
America: Imagine a World Without Him marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing companies. Lionsgate released the movie in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the US Independence Day holiday on July 4, 2014. The film scooped $ 14.4 million. , which made it the best-selling documentary in the United States in 2014, although the previous documentary D'Souza 2016: Obama's America has scooped $ 33 million . Most professional film critics call the film badly made and partisan. Political commentators analyze D'Souza's denial of Howard Zinn's critics, filmmakers' treatment of Saul Alinsky, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and D'Souza's portrayal of his own criminal prosecution. The conservative commentator declared a mix of full and quality support for D'Souza's documentary and intent.
Video America: Imagine the World Without Her
Synopsis
Setting the stage for the presentation of their views, D'Souza and Sullivan provide a counterfactual history in which George Washington was killed during the Revolutionary War, or the state divided after civil war, creating a world without America that would be much worse. D'Souza identifies himself as an Indian immigrant who chooses America, and has been impressed by what a unique power for that good, something traditionally approved by Americans. He claims the modern leftists "tell a new story", however, contrary to the traditional reverence for America in order to "convince a nation to fabricate its own destruction" and "undo America that is here now." He then challenged some of the "indictments" made against state and American exceptionalism, including sociology professor and activist Michael Eric Dyson claimed that "Theft" was an "essential element" for the "American empire" and historian and activist Ward Churchill's assertion that the US is an evil empire new in the world, and said that French radical 1960s Saul Alinsky, historian Howard Zinn, and others have raised the guilt and resentment about the wealth inequality that has helped shape Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's political career.
D'Souza argues that American wealth has been created, not stolen. He said the $ 700 used to buy colonial Manhattan from American Indians could buy many lonely packages in the world today, but the individual industry has made New York real estate worth billions. He states that in Europe, India, and elsewhere most countries have been established on conquest, and observed that the pattern of the creation of American wealth has not become a universal norm. He cites examples as Arab historian Ibn Khaldun prefers to plunder trade and says that traders form the second lowest social caste in Hinduism.
The film argues that American Indians exhibit "ethical conquest" among themselves, and that most of the American Indian depopulations occurring during European colonization result from contagious outbreaks of plague (which had previously destroyed Europe), not from the intention of removing someone. The film argues that modern American Indians have little interest in going back to their hunter-gatherer past. In an interview, Senator Ted Cruz compared the Texas Revolution to the American Revolution. Professor and Reconquista supporter Charles Truxillo contrasts with an American descendant of Mexican descent who is interviewed who says he has no desire to return to poverty and crime riding Mexico and instead wants to live "the American Dream".
D'Souza says slavery is hampering America's development, rather than encouraging it. The film argues that slavery is an ubiquitous phenomenon for much of human history, but that its abolition is a "unique West", noting the scarcity of "the great war fought for ending slavery" like the American Civil War. According to the Declaration of Independence film essentially says "freedom is the solution to injustice," a "promissory note" is cashed in history by Americans such as Martin Luther King, Jr. CJ Walker, a black businessman and slave princess who is considered the first self-made female millionaire, is cited as an example of the type of individual success stories made possible by the American system ignored by historians such as Zinn because it undermines their leftist narrative. Columbia University economist Jagdish Bhagwati is shown to say that "the world embraces the free market," where there is "no reason for us to regret." The film tries to describe how companies and consumer choices that are rather free and not "coercive", may have improved the standard of living by making existing items cheaper and creating new ones.
Maps America: Imagine the World Without Her
Cast
Interview
D'Souza conducted interviews with the following individuals:
- Charmaine's White Face, an Native American activist
- Noam Chomsky, an anarcho-syndicalist political commentator and activist
- Michael Eric Dyson, a professor of sociology at Georgetown University
- Rand Paul, United States junior senator for Kentucky
- Ted Cruz, United States junior senator from Texas
- Alan Dershowitz, a scholar on United States constitutional law and criminal law
Production
America: Imagine a World Without Him directed by Dinesh D'Souza and John Sullivan. Both write scenarios with Bruce Schooley based on D'Souza's book with the same title. The documentary is produced under the company of director D'Souza Entertainment. Sullivan said he was inspired by the History Channel ministry of The Men Who Built America, "I really think that there's something in that style that allows you to tell a bigger story." The director says the 2016 fiscal year: Obama's America allows filmmakers to increase funding for America . Re-show scenes filmed in Camden, South Carolina, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Actor John Koopman III, a Colchester, Connecticut resident who has described General George Washington in national and state parks throughout the United States, was cast to portray Washington in the documentary. Koopman brought his own cabinet and horse for filming, which took place in Camden for four days.
The filmmakers chose to feature celebrity clips including Woody Harrelson, Matt Damon, and Bono to illustrate the documentary points to an audience that may not be familiar with historical figures like Frederick Douglass. Harrelson proved to condemn the US treatment of Native Americans. The film also shows the history of Howard Zinn A History of the United States People, mentioned by Damon's character in the movie Good Will Hunting and in The Sopranos TV series . The clip featuring Bono, who did not participate in the production, was shown to portray support for American exceptionalism.
The filmmakers also attempted to license the song "It's America" ​​recorded by Rodney Atkins, but the license was rejected by one of the songwriters because of the political premise of the documentary. They even involve Dave Mustaine, the founder of Megadeth, who recorded the heavy metal guitar version of "The Star Spangled Banner" for the film. The filmmakers also licensed the song "America" ​​by Imagine Dragons and "Home" by Phillip Phillips.
In addition to theatrical pieces, D'Souza edited an 80-minute snippet for educational purposes, deleting interviews with political experts. He said, "It's all pure historical content now."
Marketing
D'Souza released the footage for America: Imagine the World Without Her on <26 January , 2014. He then filters the footage to 3,500 participants at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC on March 7, 2014. Movie makers hire Christian marketing companies to create sermons, complete with video clips, based on documentaries, and make them available for download. The Hollywood Reporter says on June 19 , 2014 that more than 1,000 preachers have downloaded sermons and insiders expect the number to reach 5,000 before the release of the movie. The filmmakers also emailed 120,000 evangelical churches who asked them to promote the film and hired Faithit.com company to contact 80,000 Christian consumers. The following July, D'Souza and fellow filmmaker Bruce Schooley went to the state of Texas to promote a documentary about Glenn Beck's radio and television program.
D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her , which became the basis of his documentary. Shortly before the film's release, Costco's warehouse club pulled a book off its shelves, saying its action was due to low sales. D'Souza mentions Costco's explanation as "unreasonable" and notes that his book just came out a few weeks and was ranked # 1 on Amazon.com's bestseller list, while Costco continues to store hundreds of books with much lower sales. D'Souza confirmed the book was withdrawn because one of Costco's founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Rush Limbaugh and other media voices about political rights support D'Souza with widespread criticism about Costco. Costco rearranged the book and cited documentary releases and related interests for reorder.
Since America and Imagine the World Without Her and 2016: Obama's America share America in their titles, several movie sites, including Rotten Tomatoes, Yahoo! Movies, and MovieTickets.com, have difficulty presenting results for newer documentaries. While this website completes the results, the filmmaker contacts the Google search engine to complain about the lack of direct search results relating to the documentary. Other results, including 2016: Obama's America
In August 2014, the non-profit organization Movies to the Movement invited President Barack Obama and members of the United States Congress for free screenings America . The Hollywood Reporter says that organizations "help promote healthy little films, many of which seem to have a Christian or conservative theme for them even though the group is not partisan". Movie to Movement founder and CEO says he has budgeted $ 5,500 to pay for politicians tickets and will guarantee the delivery of digital copies if the documentary is not available in the theater near a politician.
Release
Lionsgate, who handles the home entertainment distribution for the previous movie D'Souza 2016: Obama's America, earned the right to distribute America: Imagine the World Without Him in theaters in the United States. Historically, it was distributed in theaters of two political documentary films, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) and Religulous (2008). The UK-based Film Sales Manifesto gained the right to distribute America outside the United States for the purpose of playing a documentary at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, but no screening was performed.
Lionsgate gave the film a limited release in three theaters in the US cities of Atlanta and Houston on June 27, 2014. Cities were selected to appear premier America since 2016 : Obama's America looks good in 2012. The Hollywood Reporter says America "opened for solid numbers" with $ 39,000 for the $ 13,000 theater averages. Distributors then plan a broad release for the US holiday Holiday Independence weekend on July 4 , 2014. On July 2 , 2014, Lionsgate expands the release to 1,105 theaters . For the weekend July 4-6 , 2014, grossed $ 2.7 million and ranked 11th at the box office. The film completed the plays after 70 days with gross total $ 14.4 million . The Hollywood Reporter says gross is "a very powerful show for documentary". For 2014, America is the best-selling documentary in the United States. The movie is not performing as well as 2016: Obama's America , which earned more than $ 33 million . To date, America is ranked as the sixth best selling political documentary in the United States.
Lionsgate released the film on Digital HD on October 14, 2014 and on DVD and Blu-ray on October 28, 2014, a week before the National Election Day on November 4th. . Home media included an additional 40 minutes of recording, including interviews with Ted Cruz, Ward Churchill, Star Parker, and former POW John Fer. For the week ending 2 November , 2014, ranked third in disk sales after X-Men: Days of Future Past and Peabody & amp; Sherman . It ranks seventh in Blu-ray sales with 26% of disks sold as Blu-ray.
Critical response
The Times-Picayune reported, "'America' is not widely screened for criticism, but the first few reviews... are not very shining," saying that the reviews basically labeled the film as "partisan". The News-Press reported, "'America' has been criticized by some as a propaganda of right-wing propaganda." Metacritic's review website surveyed 11 movie critics and rated 10 reviews as negative and 1 as a mix, with nothing positive. It gives an aggregate score of 15 out of 100, which shows "extraordinary dislike". Similar websites of Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 criticism and, categorizing reviews as positive or negative, rated 22 as negative and 2 as positive. From 24 reviews , it's rated an average of 2.9 out of 10. The website gives the film an overall score of 8% and says the consensus is, "Passionate but poorly built, America preach to the choir. "According to The Hollywood Reporter ' s Paul Bond, the film performed well in its limited theatrical release," overcoming some negative reviews in mainstream media ". Bryan Alexander says, "America is outraged by major critics... It receives 8% of critical value at RottenTomatoes.com... But the movie was accepted. 88% positive viewers on the same website. "Bonds reported," Conservative... looks happy with the movie. "
Joe Leydon, reviewing Variety , calls America "a glamorous and eccentric American eccentric celebration that could, like his predecessors, bundle with strengthened deeply held beliefs and suspicion the darkest of its target audience ". Leydon said acting in a historical re-show has inconsistent qualities. The critic found that D'Souza gave time to people he did not approve of, but said, "However, for the most part, D'Souza gives the impression someone is obsessed with cleaning up every dark chapter in US history books." Leydon praised the document's "documentary values" and the opening theme of composer Bryan E. Miller. Stephen Farber says D'Souza exaggerates "anti-American teachings as if rampant in our society" and that his response to American criticism "is not very convincing". Farber said the film's production quality, "The battle scene is competent but not more than that, and the show is at least indifferent." Farber said a re-show of history would not impress cinema goers who have seen many other historical films, although he calls Ben Huddleston's cinematography "conspicuous". The critics concluded, "This is another dubious piece of agitprop that will please writers' fans and have very little impact on their opponents." Metacritic scored every trade paper review from the film to 30 out of 100.
Metacritic reviews ratings from The A.V. Club , Indiewire
Rob Humanick, reviewing for Slant Magazine, said "Cynically opportunistic America down to another one-note attack on the sitting president, relies on a large number of taboos, half-truths, and is really a lie massively traded by mainstream conservatism over the past seven years. "Humanick calls the documentary" a carefully cultivated set of false equations, hyperbolic statements, striking contemplation of others' arguments, and appeals that do not shame to patriotism, all in a vague, harsh framework to vilify others. " Critics say exceptions are cited for American historical reasons and that D'Souza's criticism of Obama does not ask "bigger fundamental questions". Humanick concludes, "Anyone who has ever really studied history outside of public education, or reads texts that are alluded to throughout America (such as Howard Zinn's A History of the United States People) will understand the extent to which history has flattened and narrative simplified in order to give greater legitimacy to these binary-dependent 'lessons'. "Gabe Toro, reviewing for Playlists, said," The film plays like more than one bullet-point presentation from the actual film, takes every argument that he thinks the liberal mind experiences and dissects each, cherry-picking anomalies to confront some kind of liberal 'truth' that does not exist. "Toro calls the documentary" artless, informative, sensational, and filial propaganda to phone phrases,... simplicity,... and pretentious ". The critics say, "Incidentally, these are some of D'Souza's and co-director John Sullivan's guides keep the movie conventional and entertaining... Filled with bouncy guitars, useless blacksmith montage and recreation with production values the level of porn... it's all the anti-pumping thought, which consists of unwarranted revisionist history and useless contrarianism. "
Martin Tsai, whose interpretation Metacritic scored 40 out of 100, the highest of his 11 samples, said, "He's trying to get rid of prejudice [Howard] ] Zinn through the apagoge, as if finding an exception to any Zinn rule would cancel out Zinn's entire argument... D'Souza made some convincing points but would not admit the existence of a gray area.Probably that he and Zinn could both seem right unexpectedly. "Tsai said," 'America' seems more intent on editorializing, razzling and dazzling than on a stimulating public debate. " He sums up, "It's much more invested in elaborate historical demonstrations, hypothetical dramatization and the special effects of interviews, research and data."
Christian Toto, reviewing for Breitbart, writes that America provides "the context for some state sins in a way that is rarely heard in popular culture.Each argument requires more time, more explanation, but for those weaned on Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States will open your eyes. "
Political comment
US. News & amp; World Report ' Nicole Hemmer says D'Souza's documentary is aimed at conservatives and conveys the premise that leftist radicals describe American history as embarrassing to win political power. Simon van Zuylen-Wood, writing in the National Journal, said the film treats "radical left-world views of marginal figures such as Bill Ayers" as representatives of American liberalism and that he is involved "in historiography selective "such as minimizing slavery in the United States by highlighting the whereabouts of the owners of black slaves. Zuylen-Wood also compared D'Souza with the liberal filmmaker Michael Moore about how the two used their roots to convey their messages and how they became central figures in their documentary, introducing "one pathology of ideology for another" to the movie goers.
Mark Stricherz of The Atlantic says that D'Souza's message suffers from "intellectual trap ignores criticism", finding that he does not contextualize Obama's phrase "You do not build it" in America Stricherz said , "Sometimes, America lives up to D'Souza's old intellectual standards, he meets with left-wing critics... He argues persuasively that Alexis de Tocqueville is a more reliable guide than Howard Zinn disturbing early episodes of American history such as slavery and the treatment of Native Americans. "Stricherz concluded," D'Souza's pride, his belief that he does not need intellectual or moral criticism, has led to his downfall from the first rank of conservative intellectuals. " John Tamny of Forbes says, "D'Souza America is glorious in his attempt to discredit myths about the US as a nation of genocide, thieves, racists, voracious capitalists, but really, who believes this? It is popular in the victims' part of the conservative movement to affirm that those who love the US, the freedom, and the prosperity it provides do so silently for fear that the majority of haters will mistreat them for having that view but let's be serious. this is too rare as we all know. "
The John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to progressive US criticism of the country: "The movie D'Souza and his accompanying book are attacks that have no restrictions on contemporary doctrine on political correctness." Dana says D'Souza's message is "very pessimistic" but concludes, "Most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Most of the criticisms on Americans taught in state schools are easily denied, Americans deserve to be rescued, and we have the tools to do it in our DNA, just waiting to be utilized. "Jay Nordlinger said:" Dinesh is anti-Moore: takes to the big screen to press conservative points... The senseers of shame (let's call them) focus on perhaps 20 percent of the American story.Dinesh just put another 80 percent back. "Nordlinger divides the documentary : "The first part deals with the 'shame narration'. The second deal with politics today, and especially presidential politics. "The conservative commentator said:" The second film confirms to me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is completely clear about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it. "
In Liberal's liberal Daily blog, Dan Falcone writes: "The American D'Souza film sets out to report that anyone who tries to make America more democratic or inclusive is motivated by contempt for the state." Media Matters for America called the film "racially burdened agitprop". In Salon, Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig calls this "ridiculous shame" which ranges from "very bad arguments to shameful propaganda."
Kate O'Hare, writing for Breitbart.com, said, "None of these stories negates the horrors and injustices of the past, but that is not the point of D'Souza, but instead offers a different context to see it, and he does it "Commenting on acceptance, Breitbart's editor, Ben Shapiro said" It does not make sense to have film critics [left] who criticize documentary politics professionally, they seem unable to separate their artistic sensitivities from their politics. "
Howard Zinn Counter
In the documentary, D'Souza against four "indictments" from the United States made by historian Howard Zinn: the treatment of Native Americans, slavery, Mexican transfer, and colonialist behavior. John Fund at the National Review said, "Consider his treatment of those subjects as his direct rebuttal to... Zinn, whose textbook treats American history as one of the persistent persecution dominates many secondary schools and colleges America." Andrew Romano, writing for The Daily Beast, said Zinn was for D'Souza "a somewhat smaller target" than Obama in his previous documentary. Romano said the counter-argument of the filmmaker was dishonest and did not prove Zinn's fault. US. News & amp; World Report ' s Hemmer says D'Souza's statement that Zinn's book A People's History of the United States is part of an untrammeled mainstream education: "Though influential, the book it's hardly hegemonic, even sharply criticized by eminent historians. "Hemmer says Eric Foner's textbook Give Me Liberty! is more common than Zinn's book and even criticized the book as pessimistic.
Alinsky, Obama, and Clinton Treatment
In the documentary, D'Souza says Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are followers of left-wing activist Saul Alinsky. The John Fund of National Review said "D'Souza is the first filmmaker to mine the rich material that shows Alinsky's radicalism." Jay Nordlinger says: "I myself departed a bit from D'Souza on Alinskyism: I regard Obama and Hillary as mainstream Democrats, no different from Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, and other gang members and this gang commands a homage, or at least sound, roughly half of the country. "Gabe Toro, reviewing Indiewire's The Playlist , says D'Souza" flat-out comparing "Alinsky told Satan and then showed Alinsky influence on Clinton and Obama. Zuylen-Wood says although Alinsky is dying when Obama is a teenager in Hawaii, the film portrays Obama as one of Alinsky's most famous "disciples." US. News & amp; World Report Hemmer says Alinsky is the focus in D'souza because President Obama is not ready for re-election in 2016, so his argument about Obama's legacy can not be applied to Hillary Clinton if she become a presidential candidate. With Obama and Clinton both having links with Alinsky, Hemmer says Alinsky "has become a natural channel for transferring Obama's criticism to Clinton".
Ben Beaumont-Thomas says Hillary Clinton is the main focus in the documentary because he is likely to be a candidate in the 2016 US presidential election. Beaumont-Thomas says the TV network NBC and CNN avoided producing miniseries about Clinton, "Both right and left voices expressed concern that the series would be too profitable for Clinton or too politically cautious." The liberal voice is now likely to demand a counterweight to the D'Souza Movie. "
Movie prosecution
Towards the end of the film, D'Souza shows himself in a camera wearing handcuffs, referring to his criminal convictions for violating the election campaign finance laws. Joseph Amodeo, a political scientist and policy researcher for The Huffington Post, said the scene "seems to be an apology for the" fans "and hard-earned performances for the recent untruth on his part." Michael Berkowitz, also writing for The Huffington Post, said of the scene, "Suggestion [D'Souza] that his own criminal convictions and his cheating on his wife are the result of an embarrassing and unsupportive political targeting." Dana said of the scene, "She clearly expressed her view that she was selectively prosecuted, but viewers had to take the film themselves, she said, regardless of what they were think about him. "
Proposed law
Alan Hays, a Republican member of the Florida State Senate, saw America in theaters in July 2014 and later announced his intention to propose state laws requiring high school and high school students in the Florida public school system to view movies. Hays said, "I have seen the history books and talked to the history teachers and the messages students get are very different from what is in the film.This is dishonest and insulting.The students need to see the truth without political favoritism. " Hays said he would not mind if America was paired with a liberal film and that he would ask for a copy of the American charity group to give schools to avoid imposing burden on Florida taxes. In November 2014, Hays filed a bill in the state senate to require to see the documentary. The Tampa Bay Times said Hays "received harsh criticism that he imposed propaganda on children". Hays asked Neil Combee, a Republican member of the Florida Representative Council, to support his bill. After Combee watched the documentary and discussed it, he agreed to file a companion bill. Combee filed the House Bill the following December, and the Times said that the counterpart's bill increased the likelihood of adopted legislation. The proposed bill requires all eighth and eleventh Florida students to watch America . The bill includes an option for parents to choose their children out of film screenings.
The liberal advocacy group People for the American Way criticized it for supporting political documentary films and as a cinematic choice by legislators rather than educators. The Southwest Florida WINK-TV television station reported that critics say the law is "propaganda and stupid". Collier County's local Libertarian Party head Jared Grifoni did not participate in the content contest but the terms were stipulated, "We have to work to get rid of political and social engineering in schools regardless of which side of the hall it pushes in. This is the right side of the aisle pushing their agenda on students while accusing the left of the same thing. "
The House bill collects eight co-sponsors. Finally died at the K-12 Subcommittee on April 28 , 2015. The Senate Bill died at the 12th Pre-K Committee on 1 May , 2015.
See also
- Political theater
- List of documentaries
References
Further reading
- D'Souza, Dinesh (2014). America: Imagine a World Without Him. The book with the movie is a companion. Publishing Regnery. ISBN 978-1-62157-203-9.
External links
- Official website
- America: Imagine a World Without Him on IMDb
- America: Imagine a World Without Him in Box Office Mojo
- America: Imagine a World Without Him at Rotten Tomatoes
- America: Imagine a World Without Him in Metacritic
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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