We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Star Wars and the Death of American Cinema

Click here to access article by John Wight from CounterPunch

I recently watched as TV "news" program after program dramatically announcing the current showing of the latest Star Wars flick thereby insuring not only a big box office bonanza of profits, but more importantly, another propaganda loaded movie to insure that Americans understand that their country and its military are heroes by fighting all the "evil-doers".
‘Star Wars’ is a simple story, simply told, of good versus evil, light versus darkness, and freedom versus tyranny. In other words it is the story of America’s struggle to preserve democracy and civilization in a world beset by evil and ‘evildoers’.

Movies and political propaganda have long walked hand in hand. Indeed if ever a medium was suited to propaganda it is the medium of cinema. 
He also makes an astute comparison of movies today in contrast with movies made in the 1960s, an era when our generation questioned everything and caught our masters by surprise. We also spawned the movements for minority, feminist and gay rights. But this questioning of conventions and authority was not to last. Our masters in the capitalist ruling class rallied to install increasingly repressive administrations, more wars, more censorship, more propaganda loaded "news" programs, movies, etc to dumb down succeeding generations of young people in support of Empire interests of profit and power.