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submitted 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) by Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml to c/genzedong@lemmygrad.ml

I've seen literally countless movies just this year that have CIA presented as ''good'', helping the protagonist, the protagonist or some of the main characters is''ex-CIA'' or currently employed or has some connections to it or is at least just mentioned etc, you get the point.

How is it possible that terrorist organization is constantly ''positive'' in movies and casually presented like that, that is like showing Gestapo or ISIS as ''good guys''.

And it's literally thousands of movies with essentially the same fucking plot over and over again . How does no one notice after all this time or bats an eye about terrorist organization being shown in any other way than, you know, terrorist filled with lowest and worst scums in history that should be destroyed?

I don't even know how do people not notice, complain and put a stop to it.

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[-] LeftoverSoup@lemmygrad.ml 28 points 1 year ago

If Hollywood wants to produce a movie about war/ show military operations etc. they can let the D.O.D in on the production/writing. If the D.O.D is allowed to co-write the script, the production team basically get to use equipment and military locations for free.

This is the part of the deal that's out in the open. I'm certain of that there's a lot more going on behind closed curtains.

[-] CountryBreakfast@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 1 year ago

When I was young I had an opportunity to (in summary) go to DC and learn from Pentagon officials. They talked about their involvement in Hollywood and even mentioned movies they withdrew their support from (I remember Jarhead was on thr list, so if you want to see a war movie the Pentagon hates, Jarhead makes the cut).

Like you, I also assume it doesn't stop with this. But they have to give an illusion that granddad DoD is just saluting that ole flag with the zeal and sincerity of a patriot, and not curating war culture or valorizing paternalism and sacrifice for imperial gains.

[-] Armand_Raynal@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Adding to this, check Tom Secker's blog, spyculture.com, he uncovers the changes done to the scripts through Freedom Of Information Act requests.

[-] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml 23 points 1 year ago

Hollywood is in bed with CIA, FBI, Army etc. People don't notice because they watch this since childhood with different intensity and it's as normalised as breathing. And not only in USA, those movies are everywhere.

Culture war is incredibly important.

[-] Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

It's baffling that literally no one does or says nothing about it, at least outside of USA. And is it possible that 100% of USA population is completely brain dead?

[-] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml 12 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

After 150 or so years of Hearst like media and 80 years of cold war? Quite possible.

[-] solivine@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

People quite openly don't like the police in the UK either - it's also illegal to protest

[-] Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Extremely ultra rare UK W for the police disliking

[-] solivine@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

Pretty sure it's like this with police a lot too

[-] PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmygrad.ml 15 points 1 year ago

Yup, copaganda is actually the worst, even in Poland there is non stop flow of US police shows and movies (in addition to Polish, German etc)

[-] simply_surprise@lemmygrad.ml 12 points 1 year ago

It's funny when you start noticing how even light cop comedies are super against people asking for a lawyer, asking for a warrant, or choosing not to speak to police.

Like the copaganda is meant to make you as weak as possible when dealing with the police!

[-] SillyJester@lemmygrad.ml 20 points 1 year ago

Who do you think controls the narrative?

It's the same for the army. There is no real way to afford the props so people have to lend from the army who then controls the narrative however they want. With CIA it might be less direct but I bet they'd happily knock on your door if they found out you planned to slander them in an easily widespread medium.

[-] ComradePupIvy@lemmygrad.ml 17 points 1 year ago

The CIA pays the movie directors to do it

[-] Valbrandur@lemmygrad.ml 16 points 1 year ago

Watches state-spondored propaganda

Is surprised when the state is portrayed positively

[-] Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 year ago

I don't watch it, TV is just turned on and except the ones I watch, I just look at it for some minutes when a random movie is playing and I see it.

Besides, I can't know if some movie is propaganda/sponsored if I see it for the first time.

[-] Valbrandur@lemmygrad.ml 11 points 1 year ago
  1. Is it an American production?
  2. Does it look expensive enough to look like it is made in Hollywood?

If yes to both, then it is state-spondored propaganda.

[-] Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I mean it can be seen only in credits if it doesn't have recognizable actors and here they show movies from many countries, so it happens a lot that it's some movie I never saw and it turns out to be propaganda/larp.

And it baffles me that literally every yankee action movie is the same, like don't they have something else to film/invent new script?

[-] Valbrandur@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 1 year ago

American movies have an ambiance unique to theirs that is easy to catch with a bit of experience.

And it baffles me that literally every yankee action movie is the same, like don’t they have something else to film/invent new scrip?

It is the formula that generates the most revenue. Capitalism and so on.

[-] Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 year ago

That's the most ridiculous thing, who tf even pays to watch the same thing for 100 billionth time?

[-] Valbrandur@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Redditors, funko pop collectors and other folk with a passion for generic Marvel movies.

Honestly I do not know why you ask me. It is well known.

[-] Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Funko and Marvel lmao

Yes I know, but it's totally absurd that people pay to watch the same thing over and over again for millions of times while completely ignoring terrorist organization being presented as good.

[-] Valbrandur@lemmygrad.ml 2 points 1 year ago

It is frustrating, but not absurd. There is a reason why it happens, and you need to understand that (and capitalism in general) to know how to combat it.

[-] freagle@lemmygrad.ml 5 points 1 year ago

Any movie that uses military equipment or federally owned locations is subject to complete script rewriting by the Department of Defense.

[-] bandarawan@lemmygrad.ml 13 points 1 year ago

Even the Washington post write about the US militaries involvement in top gun.

It is an open secret the US intelligence agencies use Hollywood for propaganda. https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2022/05/27/top-gun-maverick-us-military/

[-] absentthereaper@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 1 year ago

And video games, Battlefield, Call of Duty, pick a camo-spattered hoo-ah feel good destroy-a-country narrative

[-] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 year ago

Oh boy I remember how I got torn apart on reddit once for even suggesting that cod is influenced by the military-intelligence apparatus.

[-] AlbigensianGhoul@lemmygrad.ml 7 points 1 year ago

It's so ingrained into the American writing tropes that whenever I tried to force chatGPT to write any disruptive political story, it always ended with something like "but then, a group of plucky civilians and dedicated government agents snuffed the bad guy in his sleep, and all was well in the world".

Americans just really seem to think COINTELPRO was good, actually.

[-] afellowkid@lemmygrad.ml 6 points 1 year ago

https://en.prolewiki.org/wiki/Hollywood

The U.S. Department of Defense has access to the scripts of thousands of Hollywood films and modifies them to make them more favorable to U.S. militarism.[5] The government and military have complete editorial control over many of these films.[3] The government often censors movies that suggest U.S. military incompetence, war crimes, or involvement in torture or coups. Many movies that are critical of U.S. imperialism are never released at all.[5] Pro-imperialist films are allowed to use authentic military equipment and vehicles that the producers would not be able to afford otherwise.[1] Popular U.S. movies that have been influenced by the Pentagon or CIA include Apollo 13, James Bond, Jurassic Park, Godzilla, Transformers, and the Marvel movies. Pentagon contracts usually specify that the government's role in the film must not be disclosed.[5]

Kwame Nkrumah writing about this issue in 1965:

Even the cinema stories of fabulous Hollywood are loaded. One has only to listen to the cheers of an African audience as Hollywood’s heroes slaughter red Indians or Asiatics to understand the effectiveness of this weapon. For, in the developing continents, where the colonialist heritage has left a vast majority still illiterate, even the smallest child gets the message contained in the blood and thunder stories emanating from California. And along with murder and the Wild West goes an incessant barrage of anti-socialist propaganda, in which the trade union man, the revolutionary, or the man of dark skin is generally cast as the villain, while the policeman, the gum-shoe, the Federal agent — in a word, the CIA — type spy is ever the hero. Here, truly, is the ideological under-belly of those political murders which so often use local people as their instruments.

Sorry that I don't have much to add personally aside from these quotes.

[-] Raphael@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

Land of freedom.

[-] Kirbywithwhip1987@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Jurassic Park and Godzilla? First time hearing this and isn't James Bond British, I thought it's MI6.

[-] Beam@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Idk if this is unrelated but I always found myself rooting for the Decepticons in the Michael Bay Transformers movies because they’re enemies of the United States.

[-] LVL@lemmygrad.ml 4 points 1 year ago

Others have pointed out Hollywood's relationship with the CIA and this is a good article on that topic (it's about the Pentagon but it's the same idea)

[-] nervvves@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 1 year ago

on the subject of war and film, this is the best one; https://youtu.be/zjIiApN6cfg

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this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
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