Never or Now

I saw the Bob Dylan movie “A Complete Unknown” at 11am on Christmas day. We got there 5 minutes early and were subsequently subjected to 35 minutes of advertisements and trailers. One of the first ads was for the Navy - giving an emotional story of a little child being called toward his soul purpose of becoming a nuclear engineer. I was finding it hard to imagine that a little baby dreams of joining the military, but as I was lost in this thought the movie trailers started playing. The volume increased a couple decibels. I was rattled in my chair by the sound of bombs. I huddled into myself and closed my eyes as voices screamed. I peeked and caught a skeletal zombie being shot. Closed them again. The next trailer was a heist film. Again, gun shots, screeching cars, money, blood, bad guys, good guys. Then a short reprieve for The Brutalist. The elegant lines of buildings and Adrien Brody’s profile. The ensuing 6-7 other trailers were what? I don’t know. I had my eyes and ears partially closed. I could feel the rumblings of helicopters, machine guns, screaming people, authoritative voices, I squinted to see Robert Pattinson’s amputated hand. I got myself worked up into such a state of outrage and disgust that by the time Timothee Chalamet appeared on screen I was having to take low, slow long breaths and talk myself into not leaving the theater.

And then I understood why a young child might start to think that their soul purpose would be to wield an instrument of death in order to save the world from the bad guys.

I’m not new to the idea that movies are propaganda machines, but this was a whole new stratum of glorified violence. There were weapons, machines, strongly defined villains & heroes, and a bone-chilling vision of an apocalyptic pandemic. All force-fed to a captured crowd who just paid 20 dollars each to hear the (perhaps begrudgingly) crowned king of anti-war song. It was ironic to a stupid degree.

This might not be news to anyone else, but I hadn’t been to the movies in years. So I was shocked & horrified. I did not consent to 35 minutes of violence as some sort of sick price to pay to see a heartwarming Christmas movie about my most beloved songwriter of all time.

When I got home I looked into the connection between Hollywood, the CIA and the war machine and found no shortage of articles, books & documentaries. It turns out that 1927’s film “Wings” - produced by the U.S. military - was one of the earliest moments in which Hollywood was enlisted to join in the war effort. This was just before World War II when Americans needed to be galvanized into supporting yet another devastating battle. Movies moved from being frothy stories meant to distract & entertain into full on military propaganda.

“Through successful Freedom of Information Act requests, we obtained over 60,000 internal Pentagon and CIA documents which – for the first time – allows us to understand the sheer scale and scope of their involvement in the world’s largest entertainment industry,” -Dr. Sebastian Kaempf

“The Freedom of Information Act request from 2017 revealed that the Department of Defense either collaborated on or funded over 800 films. Additionally they backed 900 TV projects between 2005-2017 alone” - TRTworld

Because filmmakers cannot shoot their films without the beneficence of the military in loaning them all the expensive machines, equipment, helicopters, tanks, etc. the makers must kowtow to the DODs requests in overseeing the making of these film. Often scripts are re-written according to rules explicitly stated on the DOD website that films must be “in the national interest”, “assist recruitment” & be historically accurate (according to what the DOD says is historically accurate.)

We think we’re too smart to fall for this blatant indoctrination. But our primitive selves are not so wise. And that’s exactly what the movies play upon. They hypnotize us into a highly suggestible state & activate our amygdalas sending adrenaline and cortisol coursing through our bodies and priming our nervous systems toward a state of perpetual fear. This is not an accident.

“Where previously every major war involving the United States would be followed by dramatic cuts to military spending, there was after Vietnam the ascendancy of the idea of a "national security state," one that needed to stay on high alert[.] And this began to inculcate within the American public this notion that: 'Oh my God, there is a permanent and perpetual threat’

Hollywood play[s] the vital role in 'scaring the hell out of Americans."

- Dan O’Meara

So the CIA, the military, the DOD & Hollywood are perhaps hip to the fact that they aren’t going to trick most people into enlisting in the army, but that only means that their methods of garnering support are simply better disguised and thus more insidious.

If we are entranced into a state of fear every time we watch a movie, or a commercial, or a trailer, or the newspaper, or the radio, the more we subconsciously feel we need protection. When we feel existentially threatened we will sign over our rights, our freedoms, our sons and daughters, our dignity, our humanity to whatever figure (government, pharmaceutical company, military…etc.) cuts the most authoritative presence. These institutions provide the salve for the wound they themselves inflicted.

“The easiest way to inject a propaganda idea into most people's minds is to let it go through the medium of an entertainment picture when they do not realize they're being propagandized.” - Elmer Davis

"All of the emotions evoked on screen [we share] communally."- Dan O’meara

This is all obvious to anyone who has been paying the remotest attention to the media and all arms of the military industrial complex and it would be ridiculous if it wasn’t so sad. I won’t be swayed into supporting war, but I can easily be thrown into a state of fear that diminishes my light and strength and calm. And when we are in a state of angst and existential fear, or even just plain apathy, we are not moved to create.

Our powers of creation and vision are our greatest gifts as humans. I believe that we create our own realities and for whatever twisted reason the entertainment industry is misusing the power of the collective conscious by creating an end of the world reality of zombie pandemics, ultra-villains & greed-driven crime schemes.

I don’t think this is a true reflection of humans or the human spirit. Our deeper nature is not aligned with this programming & the dark narratives being shoved down our throats. So the most powerful thing we can do to stop perpetuating the real life experience of good guys and bad guys, of war, violence and greed is to stop the consumption of all entertainment that glorifies this barbaric vision of society.

If we want to see a new world, we have to create a new world in our visions, our media, our films, our music. We have to preserve the sanctity of our own imaginations & unleash ourselves from the masters of war.

It’s never or now.