Theaters of War (2022): Official Trailer
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- Опубликовано: 15 окт 2024
- Released May 5, 2022
Distributed by The Media Education Foundation
Landing page: go.mediaed.org...
Streaming on Vimeo: vimeo.com/onde...
Available on Kanopy beginning May 24, 2022
If you've seen Top Gun or Transformers, you may have wondered: Does all of that military machinery on screen come with strings attached? Does the military actually get a crack at the script? With the release of a vast new trove of internal government documents, the answers have come into sharp focus: the US military has exercised editorial control over thousands of films and television programs. Propelled into a field trip across America, media professor Roger Stahl engages an array of other researchers, bewildered veterans, PR insiders, and industry producers willing to talk. In unsettling detail, he discovers how the military and CIA have pushed official narratives while systematically scrubbing scripts of war crimes, corruption, racism, sexual assault, coups, assassinations, and torture. From The Longest Day to Lone Survivor, Iron Man to Iron Chef, and James Bond to Jack Ryan, the deliberate creation of this other "cinematic universe" is one of the great PR coups of our time. As these activities gain new public scrutiny, new questions arise: How have they managed to fly under the radar for so long? And where do we go from here? Distributed by the Media Education Foundation (mediaed.org).
“Like a bloodhound on the trail, ‘Theaters of War’ tracks toward one riveting revelation after another, managing to shock even as it confirms what we imagined we knew about the role and reach of military propaganda.”
- Jonna Eagle | Associate Professor, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa | Author of War Games
“This powerful documentary hits us with overwhelming evidence that every film made with DOD or CIA cooperation is a picture made with major input from that agency, including pervasive censorship and rewriting. It forced me to wonder: How many hours of my lifetime have I spent staring at movie screens and TV screens unknowingly absorbing DOD and CIA propaganda? Is this part of a military-industrial-entertainment complex? Theaters of War is a terrific teaching experience. It should also inspire a host of follow-up articles and a dissertation or two.”
- H. Bruce Franklin | American cultural historian and author of Crash Course: From the Good War to the Forever War
“The Pentagon’s influence on Hollywood goes far beyond obvious propaganda films like Top Gun, all the way to seemingly innocuous movies from Godzilla to Transformers. This is the story of how the Defense Department courted the motion picture industry to create a cinematic universe in service to the military industrial complex. A tight, compelling, and straightforward documentary that is sure to grab audiences from the living room to the college classroom.”
- Douglas Rushkoff | Professor of Media Theory and Digital Economics at CUNY/Queens
“Theaters of War clearly and compellingly unmasks the multiple and wide-ranging ways in which the CIA and U.S. military have brought considerable influence to bear on a huge number of cinematic productions and narrations. Drawing on a raft of newly available internal documents and insights from an impressive line-up of industry insiders and academic experts, it critically illuminates the military-entertainment complex as never before. It’s a must see and the crucial questions it raises on where we go from here merit much further debate and discussion.”
- Marcus Powers | Professor of Geography at Durham University
“Given Hollywood’s crucial role in influencing millions of people’s views of war, militarism, and U.S. foreign policy, it is troubling how little we know about the film industry’s relationship with the Pentagon and American intelligence. Theaters of War provides a much-needed investigation, showing how the military and the CIA dangle access to the stuff viewers expect to see - expensive hardware, realistic bases, and skilled personnel - to ensure consistency with the ideological needs of the state. This is essential viewing for anyone who consumes Hollywood’s thousands of entertainment products - that is, for all of us.”
- Dr. Scott Laderman | Professor of History at the University of Minnesota Duluth
“An impressively documented examination of the U.S. security state’s role in promoting militarism via popular media. Think propaganda’s the wrong word? Think again!”
-Stacy Takacs | Professor of English & American Studies at Oklahoma State University
“For years, Roger Stahl has been the leading scholarly voice about the reach and influence of military entertainment. In this riveting documentary, Stahl takes the audience on an adventure to uncover how the Pentagon shapes films and TV shows in both obvious and in hidden ways. Theaters of War is a must-see film.”
- Matthew Payne | Co-author of Joystick Soldiers: The Politics of Play in Military Video Games
Watched this film today and it is excellent! Until Dec. 2020 when I retired, I worked in the entertainment business for 30 years and personally. I've opposed ALL U.S. wars since I was in high school and marched against the Vietnam War. I can spot US war propaganda a mile away, and for many YEARS I've longed for someone to do this research and make a film like this one!!! Thank you! I've shared info about the film on Twitter and Facebook and hopefully more people will watch the film.
People who say US propaganda is highly evolved and refined are protecting the big con of grassroots corruption with it, because the propaganda is shockingly dumb and it works so well because many people dumb themselves down by choosing to believe lies that are pleasant to them. Anyone can make a choice to be more than a mere primal organism focusing on propagating genes.
I put many people to the test who were feigning innocent ignorance but then revealed that they know absolutely well what immoral choices they make. They bring excuses for why they indulge in the convenience of fear instead of making at least some trivially small sacrifices for a better future.
There will be many people who say what Israel is doing is evil, but looking on product labels so as to not buy peanuts from Israel might already be covered by their bullshit umbrella. They might say that doesn't make a difference, but it's not like they are willing to fight on a bigger front either.
@@Dowlphin I read your reply to my comment with interest, and while I agree with you, your comment doesn't seem to be a response to what I wrote, so I think you posted it here by mistake. You might want to copy it and post it where you intended to post it and then you can delete it here. Hope that helps!
@@amritawhitman8112 Why is it so difficult to fathom open discussion that doesn't send tailored responses on request?
@@Dowlphin Okay now I have NO idea what you're talking about. I tried to help you because you put your comment in the wrong place. Suit yourself.
@@amritawhitman8112 Well, your inability to comprehend at this point and insistence on knowing what I did explains your first reaction. Kinda puts your propaganda wokeness into context. Maybe you are easily deceived in other areas - blind spot, basically.
Or maybe my autism suspicion was justified enough to voice it earlier.
Where can I watch this movie?
They're selling access to this film on Vimeo for $5 (2 day rental)
Fantastic documentary gentleman.
As an air force brat, who grew up in many different military bases ( including those moments where I got to firsthand see film production up close on ships ), I never understood the " liberal Hollywood " frogwash that came from non-military commentators ( such as Rush Limbaugh or even conservative social media folks ). It's like, more than half of the movie production ( from Top Gun to Transformers ) has military-esque mentalities, along with " thank yous " to all forms of military personnel in the credit scenes for these ( and other ) films.
How do these folks not see it???
Looking forward to the film!
I would also like to know if there is an update on release date. Thank you!
The film is in finalization now and should be out within the first half of April.
@@theatersofwar8526 Thank you!!! Looking forward to watching!
When & where will this be available?
just to the right of the title, “theaters of war official trailer 2022” is a little drop-down arrow. When you click the arrow you will go to the Full description. In the full description it tells you where you can watch the movie.
@@rubybenge9301 if you follow the link you'll see it's not available yet. I'd like to know when it will actually be released
The film is in finalization now, and we anticipate it will be on Kanopy (university streaming service) and available for individual streaming during the first two weeks of April.
@@theatersofwar8526How can I stream it without Kanopy? My library card isn't recognized there...
@@theatersofwar8526 I'm trying to watch it and see I have to go get out a Library card. I sure hope you get more exposure for your important film. Thank you.
An engaging and eye-opening film. Very well done!
The moviemakers pay for the expenses, I hope, otherwise it would be even more overtly corrupt, because military expenses are taxes (at least officially and normally, hah), and you cannot just fund entertainment movie content vanity through taxes.
You have zeroed in on an interesting issue. We had to cut this section from the film for time. When the DoD does speak of its help with films, it always makes a point of saying that filmmakers pay for everything. That's technically true. Typically there is a bill. That's not the end of the story, though. Until 1964, filmmakers did not pay anything, and the DoD liked it that way. The less they charge, the more leverage the PR office gets over the script. The public controversy over The Longest Day changed this, and the DoD was made to start charging after that. But they wanted to keep the bill as low as possible, so they made a practice of charging only nominal fees. Everything in Top Gun, for instance, cost producers about $1M, and the aircraft carrier was free (which alone costs $1M/day to run). Quite a deal. Moreover, we have found numerous instances in the documentation where the DoD tries to eliminate costs for filmmakers. They have a trick where they categorize assistance as "legitimate training" and thus give it away for free. This was the case for Act of Valor, for example. (In the documentation for that film, too, they admitted that helping with movies hinders both their training and operational missions - yikes.) When it's all said and done, taxpayers effectively subsidize Hollywood (not to mention the PR aimed right back at them).
@@theatersofwar8526 Thanks for the info! - Probably not critical that this bit was cut, because the first guess of an informed person, and even more so based on what the documentary does mention, would be that there is this kind of sleazy accomodating going on, considering it would inofficially be seen as propaganda services rendered to the government.
Where do time constraints come from, though? Could this not have been added as a one-sentence mention?
@@Dowlphin The DoD generally can and does make the case in one sentence: "Filmmakers reimburse us." But explaining why it's more complex and suspect requires time, giving examples, making a case. It's one of those 3-minute bits we cut out to get the film down to regular feature length.
@@theatersofwar8526 reimburse us (DoD) for letting film makers use tax payer paid for hardware. oh the irony.
Tough
Really look forward to seeing this soon. I love the clever title, too. Well played.
Seems like a great film
Wouldn't expect anything less from the most evil empire on Earth to ever exist in known history.