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. 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.
As noted in the 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.
Now, to capitalize on the film’s success, the air force is running recruitment ads before screenings.
As 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.”
[...]
This demand has created a powerful dynamic in Hollywood. 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.
It's so funny how pple on all social media platforms are claiming that Oppenheimer isn't propaganda becos it criticizes the bomb, and Im just going, my dears you need to remember how propaganda works. Saying Oppenheimer couldnt possibly be propaganda becos it is critical of the bomb is like saying Brooklyn 99 can't be copaganda becos they had episodes that were critical of the cops. 😑😑😑
Im sick and tired of having to explain until I'm blue in the face that propaganda, particularly Hollywood propaganda, doesnt always have to take the form of obvious messages like "X is good!!" Or, "Y is bad!!" Anyways, here's a great tiktok that explains why Oppenheimer is propaganda:
I like tumblr because i can talk about really niche fan content and ideas for a fandom without sounding insane, such as i never liked when what-if-do-whatever-tf-you-want homestuck fics would make dave a director and karkat and actor karkat is a producer and writer and dave is an actor
This is a PSA please assume that every headline and article and quote we hear about our favourite (and more importantly our problematic unfavourite) actors and writers and union members for the foreseeable future will be propaganda.
Assume that if someone has the influence to put many eyes on one thing, they also have a motivation to misrepresent people and statements, and/or to create discord to keep people from trusting and supporting each other.
Do not trust anyone to give us the full context, the complete statement, the unbiased observation. We are suddenly going to start hearing about a lot of Terrible Views or Problematic Behaviour from a person we otherwise do not hear or think much about, who is coincidentally an influential member in the union or contributing meaningfully to strike actions. We are going to hear a lot of very reasonable arguments that maybe nobody should listen to or agree with anything that This Person has to say. It is not going to be explicitly linked to their position regarding the strikes.
We are going to hear a lot of criticism against the unions. We are going to read posts from Average People pointing out how unfair and mean-spirited the union’s expectations are for people. Some of these posts will come with screenshots from union communications, along with a “helpful explanation” of what this means for Us, the Non Union Members reading it. It will point out how difficult, inconvenient, or over-reaching these expectations are, according to This Person’s Very Legitimate Interpretation Of Them. It will not be explicitly linked to their position regarding the strikes.
We are going to hear and see and read a lot of things in the coming weeks and months. Some of it will be laughably blatant. Some of it won’t. We will need to be very critical, very patient, and very self-aware if we want to avoid falling for it, and we won’t always succeed. We do, however, need to keep trying. There is a vested interest in changing or creating our opinions, and a vested interest in keeping us from realizing how it is being done or who is attempting to do it. We Are Not Immune To Propaganda.
For this episode of Lest We Forget today’s show is about the history of Native American Boarding Schools.
Lisa Skinner discussed in great detail why and how they were started, what their purpose was, and how the Native American children were taken from their parents, suffered different abuses, had their hair cut short or shaved off, and weren’t allowed to speak their language. The native…
Kirk Douglas (The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)—The smile, the dimple, the physique. Add that to a hefty dose of charisma and talent, and Kirk Douglas had what it takes to be one of Hollywood's hottest leading men.
Alain Delon (Purple Noon)—no propaganda submitted
This is round 1 of the bracket. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage man.