Screen Propaganda, Hollywood and the CIA

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Screen Propaganda, Hollywood and the CIA

?One of the most pervasive trends in 21st century western culture has become somewhat of an obsession in America. It?s called ?Hollywood history?, where the corporate studio machines in Los Angeles spend hundreds of millions of dollars in order to craft and precisely tailor historical events to suit the prevailing political paradigm.? (Patrick Henningsen, Hollywood History: CIA Sponsored ?Zero Dark Thirty?, Oscar for ?Best Propaganda Picture?)

Black Hawk Dawn, Zero Dark Thirty and Argo, those are only a few major recent productions showing how today?s movie industry promotes US foreign policy. But the motion picture has been used for propaganda since the beginning of the 20th century and Hollywood?s cooperation with the Department of Defense, the CIA and other government agencies is no modern trend.

With Michelle Obama awarding Ben Affleck?s Argo the Oscar for best movie, the industry showed how close it is to Washington. According to Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, Argo is a propaganda film concealing the ugly truth about the Iranian hostage crisis and designed to prepare the American public for an upcoming confrontation with Iran:

Foreign policy observers have long known that Hollywood reflects and promotes U.S. policies (in turn, is determined by Israel and its supporters). This fact was made public when Michelle Obama announced an Oscar win for ?Argo? ? a highly propagandist, anti-Iran film. Amidst the glitter and excitement, Hollywood and White House reveal their pact and send out their message in time for the upcoming talks surrounding Iran?s nuclear program [...]

Hollywood has a long history of promoting US policies. In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, President Woodrow Wilson?s Committee on Public Information (CPI) enlisted the aid of America ?s film industry to make training films and features supporting the ?cause?. George Creel, Chairman of the CPI believed that the movies had a role in ?carrying the gospel of Americanism to every corner of the globe.?

The pact grew stronger during World War II [?] Hollywood ?s contribution was to provide propaganda. After the war, Washington reciprocated by using subsidies, special provisions in the Marshall Plan, and general clout to pry open resistant European film markets [?]

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[compl3x]

Every country/government has used its media/art to sell propaganda. From the commies, to the nazis, the allies, and everywhere in between.