|
US “Alternative” Cinema Counters
Boondoggled Mainstream
|
|
|
It's about
Fox News, Uncovered
|
When
I was reporting from
Iraq
in April of this year, a friend e-mailed me and asked how many American
“alternative” journalists there were in
Baghdad
. I replied there was only a handful, maybe six. He then asked about reporters
from other countries, were there any good ones working there? I thought for a
minute and answered that the majority of the journalists I met from
Europe
,
South America
or the
Middle East
would qualify as “alternative” in the
United States
. This is to say that they were well-informed and, as a journalist should be
during a war, deeply critical of reports that came from the occupation forces.
The
same holds true for the current explosion of political cinema in the
United States
. As I will explain, it is really only serving the function that mainstream
journalism ought to be, were it not for the appalling state of reporting,
particularly reporting on Iraq, in America.
As
everyone already knows, this election is one of the most dynamic in
US
history, and cinema is weighing in with its own efforts. From the Christian
fundamentalist slant of films like George Bush: Faith in the White House, which
was bulk-mailed to churches across the country, to the mega-success of
Fahrenheit 9/11, which grossed more than any documentary in history and is
probably the first film in American history to be seriously considered to affect
a presidential race, more political movies are being produced and viewed than in
any time in recent history.
|
|
Orwell Rolls Over in his Grave directed by Robert Kane Pappas |
However,
it must be remembered that the American political landscape is anything but a
level playing field. At this point in our country’s history the media is, for
all intents and purposes, the voice of the right wing. Or perhaps it is more apt
to say, as filmmaker Robert Greenwald did, “The problem is not that Fox is a
conservative network. The problem is that it’s a Republican network!”
The
point is that the majority of the American media is currently acting as a de
facto voice of the White House. But due to the disastrous turn of events at home
and abroad, all media is in what could be called a “crisis of legitimacy.”
This
is to say that it has finally become clear to a growing number of Americans that
their news and information services are actually far from the political
neutrality that the
US
public tends to believe in.
More
specifically, people who consider themselves “liberal” or “moderate” or
“undecided” have at last realized the extreme bias that exists in mainstream
journalism. Because the right wing, particularly the Christian right, has long
understood that media is a partisan tool, they have built strong, viable
networks of alternative media in the form of Christian cable networks, music
stores, labels, concerts, and films.
Now,
with millions of Americans frustrated at the shoddy war reporting of such
venerated papers as The New York Times, people are eagerly consuming a myriad of
political documentaries. Such media has been produced in the
United States
for decades, but it took a crisis like this one for its audience to be so
greatly expanded.
However,
I do not think it is accurate to say that these movies come from “all parts of
the political spectrum” as the boondoggled news networks comment, but rather
from the liberal left, who are finally angry enough to start looking elsewhere
for their news and analysis. Most of the films’ viewpoints are decidedly
anti-Bush, and basically pro-Kerry, albeit reluctantly. But they do not go much
deeper than that.
They
all provide valuable information and are very informative and well-produced.
However, from an Islamic perspective, or from the point of view of the Islamic
world, the films really have nothing to offer. None of them address the problems
in
Palestine
or other
US
interventions in the world. Nor do they attempt any deeper understanding of the
people of
Iraq
or anywhere else. Arabs, if they are portrayed at all in these films, are seen
at best as silent victims, or at worst as wealthy accomplices of the Bush
family.
It
is always heartening to see vibrant political debate, and the atmosphere in
America
is more politically charged than I have witnessed it in my lifetime. But it
must be remembered that the debate is still taking place within the heavily
patriotic and xenophobic
United States
, where there is an utter absence of reliable media to begin with. So while
I’m glad these films are being made and viewed by so many people, I still
think we have a long way to go, and more compelling films need to be made if we
are to really understand our place in the world and the future.
And
Now, the Films
Besides
the world-famous Fahrenheit 9/11 by Michael Moore, there are several other
anti-Bush films:
Robert
Greenwald (www.outfoxed.org)
has directed three very popular documentaries: Outfoxed, which is about Fox
News; Uncovered, which details the deception used by the White House leading up
to the Iraq war; and Unprecedented, about the 2000 presidential election.
Bush’s
Brain (www.bushsbrain.com),
directed by Micheal Paradies Shoob and Joseph Mealey, details the way in which
Karl Rove pulls the strings behind George Bush.
Orwell
Rolls Over in His Grave (www.orwellrollsinhisgrave.com),
directed by Robert Kane Pappas, is a further scrutiny of the US media.
There
are also several pro-Bush films that have come out recently in an attempt to
counter the aforementioned liberal films:
George
W. Bush: Faith in the White House (www.bushvideo.com),
directed by David Balsinger, former producer of the Grizzly Adams series. This
film specifically deals with how fervently Christian the president is.
Stolen
Honor (www.stolenhonor.com),
directed by Carlton Sherwood, is about John Kerry’s anti-Vietnam war activism
and accuses him of betraying American soldiers.
Last,
but definitely not least, there is a music video, in effect a short film, that
delivers one of the most blistering anti-war, anti-Bush messages this year. It
is the video for Eminem’s song “MOSH,” produced by Guerrilla News Network
(www.guerrillanews.com).
The video is visually stunning and its message may be more far-reaching than
Fahrenheit 9/11 for the simple reason that Eminem is the most popular rapper in
America
. It is sure to be viewed by the most important constituency in this election:
the
US
soldiers in
Iraq
.
*David Martinez is an independent journalist. He is based in San Francisco, California. You can reach him at
moleverde@mail.utexas.edu
|
