| Revision as of 15:21, 1 November 2014 editGamaliel (talk | contribs)Edit filter managers, Autopatrolled, Administrators93,894 edits then delete the entire quote soup instead of a POV edit which targets quotes from only one political orientation← Previous edit | Revision as of 16:01, 1 November 2014 edit undoDHeyward (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users, Pending changes reviewers, Rollbackers18,753 edits →Critical response: okay.Next edit → | ||
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| {{sectnpov|date=August 2014|talk=What rationale is there for deleting Christian Toto's review?}} | {{sectnpov|date=August 2014|talk=What rationale is there for deleting Christian Toto's review?}} | ||
| {{Undue-section|date=July 2014}} | {{Undue-section|date=July 2014}} | ||
| ] website ] listed the film as receiving a 8% approval rating, based on a count of 24 reviews |
] website ] listed the film as receiving a 8% approval rating, based on a count of 24 reviews.<ref>{{rotten-tomatoes|id=america_imagine_a_world_without_her|title=America (2014)}} </ref> On the review aggregator ], the film has a score of 14 out of 100, based on 11 critics. <ref>{{metacritic film|id=america|title=America}}</ref> | ||
| Critic Peter Sobczynski of ] gave the film one star. <ref>Peter Sobczynski (July 2, 2014). , Ebert Digital, LLC</ref> | |||
| Critic Peter Sobczynski of ] gave the film one star, writing that it "looks terrible, it plods along with all the verve of a ] presentation, the occasional dramatic recreations are exceptionally cheesy and the interview footage is so needlessly over-edited that you get the feeling that something may have gotten changed around in the cutting room."<ref>Peter Sobczynski (July 2, 2014). , Ebert Digital, LLC</ref> Stephen Farber of '']'' wrote that it was a "dubious piece of agitprop that will delight the author's fans and have very little impact on his opponents."<ref></ref> David Ehrlich of '']'' gave it a grade of an "F" and wrote that it was "astonishingly facile, a film comprised entirely of ] arguments."<ref></ref> Jonathan Hickman of the '']'' said "...'America' is a handsomely made picture that... promot a Right leaning view of history." He adds, "The film feels like a very abridged almost ']' presentation lacking the in depth analysis necessary to fully appreciate position."<ref name=Hickman>{{cite web|last1=Hickman|first1=Jonathan|title='America' In Theaters Today|url=http://www.times-herald.com/closeup/20140704WEEKENDER-Movie-Review_America_Hickman|website=www.times-herald.com|publisher=The ]|location=]|date=July 11, 2014}}</ref> Reviewer Christian Toto wrote for ] that ''America'' gives "context to some of the country's sins in a fashion rarely heard in popular culture."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Toto|first1=Christian|title='America' Review: Full-throated defense of U.S. in time for the fourth|url=http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2014/07/02/america-review|publisher=Breitbart|accessdate=31 October 2014|date=July 2, 2014}}</ref> Dan Falcone writes in ] "D’Souza’s film America sets out to report that anyone who tries to make America more democratic or inclusive is motivated by disdain for the country...Anyone with a basic understanding of American History, American Government, International Relations, Political Science or Economics will be able to see through D’Souza’s cut and paste falsities and optimism."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/08/01/1318254/-The-Big-Lie-The-Film-America | title=The Big Lie: The Film, America | work=Daily Kos | date=31 July 2014 | accessdate=31 October 2014}}</ref> ] called the film "racially charged agitprop".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://mediamatters.org/research/2014/07/09/five-media-figures-who-endorse-dinesh-dsouzas-r/200046 | title=Five Media Figures Who Endorse Dinesh D'Souza's Racially Charged Agitprop | work=Media Matters for America | date=9 July 2014 | accessdate=31 October 2014 | author=Boghun, Alexandrea}}</ref> In ], reviewer Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig called it a "laughable embarrassment" which ranges "from atrociously bad argumentation to humiliating propaganda".<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.salon.com/2014/07/22/dinesh_dsouzas_laughable_embarrassment_a_review_of_america_imagine_the_world_without_her/ | title=Dinesh D’Souza’s laughable embarrassment: A review of “America: Imagine the World Without Her” | work=Salon | date=22 July 2014 | accessdate=31 October 2014}}</ref> | |||
| ⚫ | ] reported that its sample of opening night audiences gave the film an A+ grade on a scale of A+ to F.<ref name=Wrap /><ref></ref> | ||
| ===Audience polls and other responses=== | |||
| {{sectnpov|date=August 2014|talk=The Alan Dershowitz quote and other material supporting D'Souza's claim of selective prosecution should be restored to maintain NPOV.}} | |||
| {{Section OR|date=August 2014}} | |||
| ⚫ | ] reported that its sample of opening night audiences gave the film |
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| ] of ] recommended against watching the film, writing: "...''America'' ... exemplifies everything that's wrong about the American political conversation these days, rich with examples from both left and right."<ref>{{cite web|author1=Jim Gaines|title=To celebrate the Fourth of July, don't see this movie|url=http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/07/02/to-celebrate-the-fourth-of-july-dont-go-see-this-movie/|website=Reuters.com|date=July 2, 2014}}</ref> ] responded: "I'm used to having my movies critiqued, but to have a reporter actually tell people not to attend a movie is a first. This is the movie world's version of voter suppression efforts in politics...."<ref>{{cite web|author1=Christian Toto|title=Reuters Blogger: Boycott D'Souza's 'America'|url=http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Hollywood/2014/07/03/reuters-blogger-boycott-america|publisher=]|date=July 3, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| ] of '']'' wrote that, despite the dangerous trends outlined, "most people will leave the theater with a more optimistic conclusion: Much of the criticism of America taught in the nation’s schools is easily refuted, America is worth saving, and we have the tools to do so in our DNA, just waiting to be harnessed."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Fund|first1=John|title=D’Souza’s America: Dinesh D’Souza takes on Obama, Hillary, Saul Alinsky, and Howard Zinn in a single bold film.|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/381509/dsouzas-america-john-fund|publisher=National Review Online|accessdate=19 August 2014|date=June 29, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| {{POV|date=August 2014|talk=The Alan Dershowitz quote and other material supporting D'Souza's claim of selective prosecution should be restored to maintain NPOV.|section}} | |||
| Writing for '']'', political scientist and policy researcher Joseph Amodeo commented on a scene towards the end of the movie where D'Souza is shown wearing handcuffs. Amodeo says it "appears to be an apology to his 'fans' and an awkward show of penance for recent improprieties on his part (campaign finance fraud)."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Amodeo|first1=Joseph|title=D'Souza's Shameful Treatment of Conservatives Highlights Need for a Renaissance of Intellectual Conservatism|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joseph-amodeo/dsouzas-shameful-treatmen_b_5613929.html|accessdate=19 August 2014|date=July 24, 2014}}</ref> Michael Berkowitz criticizes America's ending, saying "His suggestion that his own criminal conviction and his cheating on his wife are the result of political targeting are embarrassing and without support," and that "It is a rather tawdry, but appropriate conclusion to a sad cinematic attempt to trash one's enemies without benefit of fact, yet explain away actual fact by suggesting political martyrdom."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Berkowitz|first1=Michael|title=America: Dinesh D'Souza's Deceptions|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-berkowitz/america-dinesh-dsouzas-de_b_5563541.html|accessdate=19 August 2014|date=July 8, 2014}}</ref> | |||
| ==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 16:01, 1 November 2014
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (July 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
2014 American film
| America: Imagine the World Without Her | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Dinesh D'Souza John Sullivan |
| Written by | Dinesh D'Souza John Sullivan Bruce Schooley |
| Produced by | Dinesh D'Souza Gerald R. Molen |
| Starring | Dinesh D'Souza |
| Edited by | Dinesh D'Souza |
| Music by | Bryan E. Miller Dave Mustaine (Megadeth) |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate |
| Release dates |
|
| Running time | 103 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $14,444,502 |
America: Imagine the World Without Her is a 2014 American political documentary film by Dinesh D'Souza. It is based on D'Souza's book of the same name, in which he examines various accusations against the United States. D'Souza was executive producer of the film and co-directed it with John Sullivan. Gerald R. Molen also produced. He had served as producer of D'Souza's previous film, 2016: Obama's America.
Synopsis
Setting the stage for a presentation of their views, D'Souza and Sullivan provide counterfactual histories in which George Washington is killed during the Revolutionary War, or the country is divided following civil war, creating a world without America that would be vastly worse off. He claims modern leftists are “telling a new story”, however, contradicting traditional veneration for America in order to “convince a nation to author its own destruction” and “unmake the America that is here now.” He then challenges several "indictments" made against the country and American exceptionalism, including sociology professor and activist Michael Eric Dyson's claim that “Thievery" was the “critical element” for “American empire” and historian and activist Ward Churchill's assertion that the US is the world's new evil empire, and says that 1960s Chicago radical Saul Alinski, historian Howard Zinn, and others have promoted guilt and resentment regarding wealth inequality that has helped shape the political careers of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
D'Souza argues that America's wealth has been created, not stolen. He says the $700 used to purchase colonial Manhattan from American Indians could buy many desolate parcels globally today, but that individual industry has made New York real estate worth billions. He states that in Europe, India, and elsewhere most countries have been founded on conquest, and observes that the American pattern of wealth creation hasn't been the universal norm. He cites examples like Arab historian Ibn Khaldun preferring looting to trade and says that merchants form Hinduism’s second-lowest social caste.
The film argues that American Indians exhibited this "conquest ethic" among themselves, and that most of what American Indian depopulation occurred during European colonization resulted from the accidental transmission of plagues that had earlier devastated Europe, not an intent to wipe out a people. It says modern American Indians have little interest in returning to their hunter-gatherer past. In an interview Senator Ted Cruz compares the Texas Revolution to the American Revolution. Professor and Reconquista advocate Charles Truxillo is contrasted with an interviewed American of Mexican descent who says he has no desire to return to a poverty and crime ridden Mexico and instead wants to live the "American Dream".
D'Souza says that slavery impeded American development, rather than boosting it. The film argues that slavery was an omnipresent phenomenon for most of human history, but that its abolition was "uniquely Western", noting the rarity of a "great war fought to end slavery" like the American Civil War. According to the film the Declaration of Independence essentially says “liberty is the solution to injustice,” a “promissory note” cashed throughout history by Americans such as Martin Luther King, Jr.. C.J. Walker, the black entrepreneur and daughter of slaves who is regarded as America's first self made female millionaire, is cited as an example of the type of individual success story the American system allows that is ignored by historians like Zinn because it undermines their leftist narrative. Columbia University economist Jagdish Bhagwati is shown saying that the “world is embracing the free market,” for which there is “no reason for us to be apologetic.” The film outlines how free enterprise, consumer choice rather than coercion, has raised living standards by making existing goods cheaper and creating new ones.
The film challenges the notion that America is a rapacious conqueror by arguing that Americans have sacrificed for human well being around the world, including places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Germany, and Japan, seeking in return only “enough ground to bury” their dead, as former Secretary of State Colin Powell is quoted as saying. A US veteran of Hanoi Hilton captivity is interviewed discussing his desire to liberate Vietnam. D'Souza reflects on Lincoln's assassination and the continuing cost of freedom, saying that we no longer have past heroes like Washington and Lincoln, but "we do have us” in “our struggle for the restoration of America.”
Cast
- Dinesh D'Souza – himself
- Don Taylor – President Abraham Lincoln
- Michelle Swink – Mary Todd Lincoln
- Josh Bonzie – Frederick Douglass
- Janitta Swain – Madame C. J. Walker
- Rett Terrell – Alexis de Toqueville
- Russell W. Reed – Actor at Ford's Theatre
- John Koopman – George Washington
- Tina Fortune – Hispanic worker
- Casey Allen – Crew member
- Rodney Luis Aquino – Hernan Cortes
- Joey Arguello – East Indian
- Michael D. Arite – Major Henry Rathbone
- Oscar Azul – Officer
- Andrew Baker – Lucayan Indian
- Chad Baker – Gustave de Beaumont
- Katy Baker – Audience member at Lincoln-Douglas debate
- Diana Baracaldo – Lucayan Indian
- Mateo Baracaldo – Lucayan Indian
- Chris Barber – Middle Eastern Sheik
- Crystal Barragan – East Indian Lucayan Indian
- Brian Rubright – Priest
- Rich Bentz – Saul D. Alinsky
- David C Tam- Wagon Master
Marketing and release
Marketing for the film included the distribution of a sample sermon and film clips to 120,000 churches in the United States. The film was given a wide release on July 2 and it finished #11 in the weekend box office for July 4 through 6 grossing $2,743,753 for a total gross of $5,352,705 after its opening weekend. The film did not perform as well as D'Souza's earlier film 2016: Obama's America, but as of August 2014 it ranks as the sixth highest grossing political documentary of all time.
The Costco chain removed the book from its shelves shortly before the film was released. On the Fox News network show, Hannity, D'Souza accused Costco of removing the books for political reasons. Costco reversed its decision and announced that the book would return to its shelves in coming weeks.
Critical response
| The neutrality of this section is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until conditions to do so are met. (August 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
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Review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes listed the film as receiving a 8% approval rating, based on a count of 24 reviews. On the review aggregator Metacritic, the film has a score of 14 out of 100, based on 11 critics.
Critic Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com gave the film one star.
CinemaScore reported that its sample of opening night audiences gave the film an A+ grade on a scale of A+ to F.
References
- ^ America (2014) at Box Office Mojo (as of 5 September 2014)
- Bond, Paul (May 28, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza's 'America' to Feature Megadeth Founder's Heavy Metal National Anthem (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Bond, Paul (June 16, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza's 'America' Marketing Targets Church Groups". The Hollywood Reporter.
Religious leaders will be provided video clips to show parishioners, including one of Ronald Reagan and another of George Washington fighting in the Revolutionary War.
- McKay, Hollie (July 2, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza's 'America' imagines the world without the USA". foxnews.com. Los Angeles: Fox News Entertainment.
- D'Souza, Dinesh (2014). America.
- "America: Imagine the World Without Her". Americathemovie.com. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
- Buchanan, Jason. "Synopsis". Fandango.com. Rovi.
- Harrod, Andrew E. (July 2, 2014). "Imaging a World without America; Dinesh D'Souza's New Film Refutes Detractors Who Scorn Her History". Washington, DC: The Washington Times. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - Harper, Jennifer (July 2, 2014). "Inside the Beltway: John Voight Steps Up to Support 'America' Movie". Washington, DC: The Washington Times. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
{{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) – via Questia (subscription required) - Weekend Box Office Results for July 4–6, 2014 – Box Office Mojo
- ^ Cunningham, Todd (July 6, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza's Doc 'America' Can't Match Box-Office Lightning of His '2016: Obama's America'". The Wrap. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
- "Documentary – Political". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
- Barnhart, Melissa (July 9, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza Says Costco's Decision to Pull His Book From Stores Was Politica". Christian Post. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- "'Clearly Political': D'Souza Reacts After Book Is Pulled Off Costco Shelves". Fox News Insider. Fox News. July 8, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2014.
- America (2014) at Rotten Tomatoes
- America at Metacritic
- Peter Sobczynski (July 2, 2014). Review: America, Ebert Digital, LLC
- Weekend Report: 'Transformers' Repeats On Weak Independence Day Weekend – Box Office Mojo
External links
- Official website
- America: Imagine the World Without Her at IMDb
- Template:AllRovi movie
- D'Souza interview on The Ed Show (MSNBC), with Michael Eric Dyson, including Zerlina Maxwell and Eric Boehlert
- D'Souza interview on The Kelly File (Fox News Channel), with Megyn Kelly