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The Pentagon and Hollywood
Movie people like Oliver Stone and movies like"Fahrenheit 9/11" have created the general impression that Hollywood is controlled by "liberals", Americanese for leftists, possibly dangerous. However, there is another side to Hollywood. Every morning at 6 a.m. I watch the History Channel classroom, which I esteem highly. However, it deals almost exclusively with US history; I have not even seen a program on Canada, Moreover, the dominant theme is war, not peace, and the actors are the US military, and that is one reason why I hope to persuade the History Channel to prepare programs on the peaceful history of America's great universities.
It is obvious that there is a connection between the Pentagon and Hollywood, but it has been hard to document. Now David Robb has filled the gap with his heavily documented Operation Hollywood (Prometheus, 2004). Many organizations, including the CIA, have offices in Hollywood which try to influence the content of films, but the biggest one and the one with by far the most clout is the Pentagon's, which exercises control over films in which the military are involved by providing soldiers and equipment or by refusing them. Robb is very critical of Hollywood for selling out to the military. The Pentagon has two aims. The first is to present the military in a good light: no foul language, no drugs or other unseemly behavior. It is for this reason that the revelations about Abu Graib prison were such a shock. The censorship is a two-step process: first the Pentagon's Hollywood office gives instructions and, as the filming progresses, cuts out anything it does not like. Robb views this as a violation of free speech, and quotes law professors on the point. Then there is a showing in the Pentagon, where final approval is given.
The second aim is to make a military career seem attractive to youngsters, and thus to boost enrollment. Even Lassie and Donald Duck have been used for this purpose. This is where the History Channel comes in. The program are often interrupted with advertisements telling your people to consider a career in the military, which is shown in a favorable light. Thus in the Cuban missile crisis the military should not be made to appear aggressive and stupid. To the credit of the History Channel, the superb series on Kennedy played the story straight. In some cases, when the movie makers run afoul of the Pentagon, they try to make their films in countries like the Philippines or Canada. Then the Pentagon puts pressure on the armed forces of those countries to block production.
Hollywood bosses like Jack Valenti go along with this Pentagon control because
it is to their economic interest. However, there is another side to this story.
Robb admits that the Marines are the most flexible and reasonable, which will
no doubt please General Sullivan. However, Robb does not mention that the Pentagon
can justify its control by pointing out the alternative: Hollywood leftists
would produce films showing the military in the worst possible light, thus doing
a disservice to the nation. There surely are films presenting the military is
that light. All this ties on with our "Learning history " project.
Most people learn history from the movies, not from historians. They may thus
have two versions of any operation in which the US military are involved: one
approved by the Pentagon, the other critical of it. The title Operation Hollywood
is meant to suggest that for the Pentagon its Hollywood activities are one more
operation. Moral. Don't go to the movies; read history books.
Christopher Jones writes: "The relationship between Hollywood and the Pentagon
reminds me of the German movie induztry under the Nazis: only clean cut, good
looking fellows were depicted to valiantly jumped into their Stukas to bomb
the enemies of the "New World Order." There were some memorable specimens:
Stuka was very successful in promoting Luftwaffe pilots as the heart throb for
the nation's young ladies. Dr Goebbels even authorized pulling troops from active
duty for his last great spectacle, Kohlberg, about the Prussian led German resistance
to Napoleon. That the Pentagon has now pacted with an industry dominated by
Jews with direct ties with Israel, should come as no surprise. Have you ever
seen a Hollywood film that depicts villainous Israelis?"
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