12/24/2023 0 Comments Psequel query template![]() In the 1950s, for example, the military worked with Lassie on shows that highlighted new military technology and produced “Mouse Reels” for The Mickey Mouse Club, one of which showed kids touring the first nuclear submarine. Pentagon involvement varied through the first two-thirds of the twentieth century, but it always had kids in its sights. The military had been working with Hollywood filmmakers since 1927, when it helped produce Wings, the winner of the very first Academy Award for Best Picture. What follows is an excerpt of the chapter “Operation Red Down,” from my book Back To Our Future, which dives deep into this stealth propaganda system. Another part of it would be done through clandestine arrangements with magazines, newspapers and other periodicals, and book publishers.”Įisenhower, a former general, was referring to government efforts to influence foreign views of the United States - but his vision also drives the Military-Entertainment Complex that imperceptibly sways Americans’ views of everything from military invasions to Pentagon budgets. “A great deal of this particular type of thing would be done through arrangements with all sorts of privately operated enterprises in the field of entertainment, dramatics, music, and so on and so on. “The hand of government must be carefully concealed, and, in some cases I should say, wholly eliminated,” wrote President Dwight Eisenhower in a 1953 letter, outlining his vision of influencing foreign views of the United States during the Cold War. Military leaders have long understood the power of influencing cultural products - and doing so without disclosure. On the flip side, being denied access means movies often don’t get made - because studios know they would be more expensive to make. Getting access to military hardware at free or reduced rate prices is effectively a huge government subsidy to studios that agree to the military’s propaganda demands - and in some cases, the military has used that power to press filmmakers to distort American history. This demand has created a powerful dynamic in Hollywood. But there’s a catch: In exchange for that access, studios have to submit scripts to be line edited so that films are pro-military. The way it all works is pretty simple: The military’s film offices offer movie studios free or cut-rate access to bases, aircraft carriers, planes, and all sorts of other hardware. For decades, the military has been working hand in hand with Hollywood to help make promotional films and television shows - and deter the making of movies that question the military and militarism as an ideology. This sort of quid pro quo is nothing new. ![]() ![]() Now, to capitalize on the film’s success, the Air Force is running recruitment ads before screenings.Īs a top military recruiter told Fox News, “We want to take advantage of the opportunity to connect not just the movie and the idea of a military service, but the fact that we’ve got jobs and we’ve got recruiters waiting for them.” ![]() On this week’s Lever Time: David discusses the “military-entertainment complex” and Top Gun: Maverick explores why the Biden administration is raising Medicare premiums and interviews Elisabeth Epps, a progressive Colorado candidate facing big-money corporate opposition. In exchange, the movie’s production team didn’t just pay $11,000 an hour in plane rental fees - they let the Pentagon help shape the film.Īs noted in our most recent Lever Time podcast by University of Georgia Professor Roger Stahl, director of the documentary film Theaters of War: How the Pentagon and CIA Took Hollywood, open record requests revealed that military officials were allowed to make changes to Top Gun: Maverick, including ensuring that “ key talking points” on topics like recruitment and foreign policy were inserted into the film. The new blockbuster is the latest product of a shadowy Military-Entertainment Complex that few know about, but that shapes so much of what we read, see, and hear about the military and militarism.įilms are where this pro-military stealth propaganda system is most prevalent - even though it is barely disclosed to audiences.įor example, to help filmmakers pull off the Top Gun sequel, the Navy delivered up pilots, fighter jets and aircraft carriers, and even broke its own flight training rules to make Tom Cruise look as cool as possible. The military quietly infiltrating a movie studio… the idea might seem like a fantastical plot from a film, but Top Gun: Maverick is a reminder that it’s all too real.
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