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America: Imagine the World Without Her

January 07, 2023

America: Imagine the World Without Her is a 2014 American political documentary film by Dinesh D'Souza based on his book of the same name. It is a follow-up to his film 2016: Obama's America (2012). In the film, D'Souza contends that parts of United States history are improperly and negatively highlighted by liberals, which he seeks to counter with positive highlights. Topics addressed include conquest of Indigenous and Mexican lands, slavery, and matters relating to foreign policy and capitalism.[3][4] D'Souza collaborated with John Sullivan and Bruce Schooley to adapt his book of the same name into a screenplay. D'Souza produced the film with Gerald R. Molen and directed it with Sullivan. The film combined historical reenactments with interviews with different political figures.

America:
Imagine the World Without Her
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
Written by
  • Dinesh D'Souza
  • John Sullivan
  • Bruce Schooley
Based onAmerica: Imagine the World Without Her
by Dinesh D'Souza
Produced by
StarringDinesh D'Souza
CinematographyBenjamin Huddleston
Edited by
  • Rickie Lee
  • Jeffrey Linford
Music byBryan E. Miller
Distributed byLionsgate
Release date
  • June 27, 2014 (2014-06-27)
Running time
103 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$5 million[1]
Box office$14.4 million[2]

America: Imagine the World Without Her was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms. Lionsgate released the film in three theaters on June 27, 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014. The film grossed $14.4 million, which made it the highest-grossing documentary in the United States in 2014, though D'Souza's previous documentary 2016: Obama's America had grossed over $33 million. Most professional film critics called the film poorly-made and partisan. Political commentators analyzed D'Souza's rebuttal of Howard Zinn's criticisms, the filmmaker's treatment of Saul Alinsky, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, and D'Souza's depiction of his own criminal prosecution. Conservative commentators expressed a mix of full and qualified support for the documentary and D'Souza's intentions.

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.[5] D'Souza identifies himself as an Indian immigrant who chose America, and has been impressed with what a unique force for good it is, something Americans have traditionally agreed with. 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 Alinsky, 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 the American Indian depopulation that occurred during European colonization resulted from the accidental transmission of plagues (which had earlier devastated Europe), not from an intent to wipe out a people. The film argues that 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 Tejano 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 attempts to outline how somewhat free enterprise and consumer "choice" rather than "coercion", have possibly raised living standards by making existing goods cheaper and creating new ones.[6]

Cast

Interviews

D'Souza conducted interviews with the following individuals:[7]

Cameos

The following persons appear in cameos via archive footage

Production

America: Imagine the World Without Her is directed by Dinesh D'Souza and John Sullivan. The two wrote a screenplay with Bruce Schooley based on D'Souza's book of the same title. The documentary was produced under the director's company D'Souza Entertainment. Sullivan said he was inspired by the History Channel miniseries The Men Who Built America, "I really thought that there was something in that style which allows you to tell a bigger story." The director said the fiscal success of 2016: Obama's America allowed the filmmakers to raise financing for America. Re-enactment scenes were filmed in Camden, South Carolina. Actor John Koopman III, a resident of Colchester, Connecticut who had portrayed General George Washington at state and national parks throughout the United States, was cast to portray Washington in the documentary. Koopman brought his own historical wardrobe and horse for filming, which took place in Camden over the course of four days.[8]

The filmmakers chose to feature clips of celebrities including Woody Harrelson, Matt Damon, and Bono to illustrate the documentary's points to audiences who may be unfamiliar with historical figures like Frederick Douglass. Harrelson is shown condemning the United States's treatment of Native Americans. The film also shows Howard Zinn's history book A People's History of the United States being mentioned by Damon's character in the film Good Will Hunting as well as in the TV series The Sopranos. A clip featuring Bono, who did not participate in the production, is shown to illustrate support for American exceptionalism.[9]

The filmmakers also sought to license the song "It's America" recorded by Rodney Atkins, but the licensing was denied by one of the songwriters due to the political premise of the documentary. They instead involved Dave Mustaine, founder of Megadeth, who recorded a heavy metal guitar version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" for the film. The filmmakers also licensed the song "America" by Imagine Dragons and "Home" by Phillip Phillips.[10]

In addition to the theatrical cut, D'Souza edited an 80-minute cut for educational purposes, removing interviews with political pundits. He said, "It's all purely historical content now."[11]

Marketing

D'Souza released the trailer for America: Imagine the World Without Her on January 26, 2014.[12] He later screened the trailer to 3,500 attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, DC on March 7, 2014.[13] The filmmakers hired Christian marketing firms to create a sermon, replete with video clips, based on the documentary, and make it available for download. The Hollywood Reporter said on June 19, 2014 that over 1,000 preachers had downloaded the sermon and that insiders expected the number to reach 5,000 before the film's release. The filmmakers also emailed 120,000 evangelical churches asking them to promote the film and hired the company Faithit.com to contact 80,000 Christian consumers.[14] In the following July, D'Souza and fellow filmmaker Bruce Schooley traveled to the state of Texas to promote the documentary on radio and television programs owned by Glenn Beck.[15]

D'Souza wrote the book America: Imagine the World Without Her, on which the documentary is based. Shortly before the film's release, the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves, saying its action was due to low sales. D'Souza called Costco's explanation "preposterous" and noted that his book had only been out a few weeks and was ranked #1 on Amazon.com's bestseller list, while Costco continued to stock hundreds of much lower-selling books. D'Souza asserted the book was pulled because one of Costco's co-founders, James Sinegal, supported Obama's politics. Rush Limbaugh and other media voices on the political right supported D'Souza with widespread criticism of Costco.[16][17] Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary's release and related interest for the reorder.[18]

Since America: Imagine the World Without Her and its predecessor 2016: Obama's America share "America" in their titles, several film websites, including Rotten Tomatoes, Yahoo! Movies, and MovieTickets.com, had difficulty presenting results for the newer documentary. While these websites resolved the results, the filmmakers contacted the search engine Google to complain about a lack of immediate search results pertaining to the documentary. Other results, including 2016: Obama's America and Captain America: The First Avenger and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, were being shown instead. They expressed concern that a lack of results, including showtimes, would affect the documentary's gross.[19] D'Souza claimed that the lack of search results was politically motivated on Google's part.[20] A preliminary fix stopped listing results for either of D'Souza's documentaries. Google said the term "America" being common in film titles prevented specific results, and it updated its Knowledge Graph to show results for the 2014 documentary.[21][22]

In August 2014, the nonprofit organization Movie to Movement invited President Barack Obama and members of the United States Congress to a free screening of America. The Hollywood Reporter said the organization "helps to promote small, wholesome movies, many of which seem to have a Christian or conservative theme to them though the group is non-partisan". Movie to Movement's founder and CEO said he budgeted $5,500 to pay for the politicians' tickets and would secure delivery of a digital copy if the documentary was not available in a theater near a politician.[23]

Release

Lionsgate, which handled home entertainment distribution for D'Souza's previous film 2016: Obama's America, acquired rights to distribute America: Imagine the World Without Her in theaters in the United States. Historically, it distributed in theaters two political documentaries, Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004) and Religulous (2008).[24] The UK-based Manifest Film Sales acquired rights to distribute America outside the United States with the goal of screening the documentary at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, but the screening did not take place.[25]

Lionsgate gave the film a limited release in three theaters in the U.S. cities Atlanta and Houston on June 27, 2014. The cities were selected for premiering America since 2016: Obama's America performed well in them in 2012. The Hollywood Reporter said America "opened to solid numbers" with $39,000 for a theater average of $13,000. The distributor then planned a wide release for the weekend of the U.S. holiday Independence Day on July 4, 2014.[26] On July 2, 2014, Lionsgate expanded the release to 1,105 theaters. For the weekend of July 4–6, 2014, it grossed $2.7 million and ranked 11th at the box office.[2] CinemaScore reported that its sample of opening-night audiences gave the film a rare A+ grade on a scale of A+ to F.[27][28]

The film concluded its theatrical run after 70 days with a total gross of $14.4 million.[2] The Hollywood Reporter said the gross was "a very strong showing for a documentary film".[29] For 2014, America was the highest-grossing documentary in the United States.[30] The film did not perform as well as 2016: Obama's America, which grossed over $33 million.[27] To date, America ranks as the sixth highest-grossing political documentary in the United States.[31]

Lionsgate released the film on Digital HD on October 14, 2014 and on DVD and Blu-ray on October 28, 2014,[32] a week before the national Election Day on November 4. The home media included 40 minutes of additional footage, including interviews with Ted Cruz, Ward Churchill, Star Parker, and former prisoner of war John Fer.[32] For the week ending November 2, 2014, it ranked third in disc sales after X-Men: Days of Future Past and Mr. Peabody & Sherman. It ranked seventh in Blu-ray sales with 26% of discs sold being Blu-ray.[33]

Critical response

The Times-Picayune reported, "America wasn't widely screened for critics, but the first handful of reviews are... not particularly glowing," saying that the reviews essentially labeled the film as "partisan".[34] The News-Press reported, "America has been criticized by some as offensive, right-wing propaganda."[11] The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed, with none being positive. It gave a weighted average score of 15 out of 100, indicating "overwhelming dislike".[35] Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and, categorizing the reviews as positive or negative, assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive. Of the 24 reviews, it determined an average rating of 4 out of 10. The website gave the film an overall score of 8% and the site's consensus stated: "Passionate but poorly constructed, America preaches to the choir."[36] According to The Hollywood Reporter's Paul Bond, the film performed well in its limited theatrical release, "overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media". Bond reported, "Conservatives... seem thrilled with the movie."[9] USA Today's Bryan Alexander said, "America was savaged by mainstream critics... It received an 8% critical score on RottenTomatoes.com... But the film received an 88% positive audience score on the same website."[32]

Joe Leydon, reviewing for Variety, called America "a slick, sprawling celebration of American exceptionalism that could, much like its predecessor, make a bundle by rigorously reinforcing the deeply held beliefs and darkest suspicions of its target audience". Leydon said the acting in the historical re-enactments was of inconsistent quality. The critic found that D'Souza gave screen time to those with whom he disagreed, but said, "For the most part, however, D'Souza gives the impression of someone obsessed with whitewashing any and all dark chapters in U.S. history books." Leydon commended the documentary's "tech values" as well as composer Bryan E. Miller's opening theme.[7] The Hollywood Reporter's Stephen Farber said D'Souza overstated "anti-American tenets ostensibly running rampant in our society" and that his responses to critiques of America "aren't very convincing". Farber said of the film's production quality, "The battle scenes are competent but no more than that, and the performances are perfunctory at best." Farber said the historical re-enactments would not impress moviegoers who had seen many other historical films, though he called Ben Huddleston's cinematography "striking". The critic concluded, "Here is one more dubious piece of agitprop that will delight the author's fans and have very little impact on his opponents."[37] Metacritic scored each trade paper's review of the film to be 30 out of 100.[35]

Metacritic assessed reviews from The A.V. Club, Indiewire's The Playlist, Slant Magazine, and TheWrap as fully negative with no merit given.[35] TheWrap's James Rocchi said the documentary had straw man arguments favoring D'Souza and had anecdotes in place of data, "The film is intellectually and factually spurious, in addition to being... deeply self-serving." Rocchi called America "technically inept" with "clumsy" editing and added, "The sound mix is incomprehensibly sloppy. Graphics look slapdash; historical recreations are either cheap-looking, unintentionally funny, or both." The critic said while liberal filmmaker Michael Moore "may be self-important at his worst", that he could direct a better film than D'Souza and Sullivan.[38] The A.V. Club's David Ehrlich also said America had straw man arguments, "[D'Souza and Sullivan are] hellbent on pacifying the American guilt they believe was responsible for Obama's election, desperately attempting to assuage the national conscience about the evils of colonialism, capitalism, and racism." Ehrlich said, "It's admirable that D'Souza is so willing to engage people who don't share his perspective, but his editing and the instructive music with which he pushes it suggest that he's not particularly interested in what they have to say."[39]

Rob Humanick, reviewing for Slant Magazine, said "The cynically opportunistic America descends into another one-note attack on the sitting president, beholden to the same plethora of taboos, half-truths, and outright lies traded en masse by mainstream conservatism for the last seven years." Humanick called the documentary "a carefully cultivated collection of false equivalencies, hyperbolic pronouncements, blatant recontextualizations of others' arguments, and shameless appeals to patriotism, all within a vaguely fear-mongering framework of demonizing the other". The critic said exceptions were cited to excuse America's history and that D'Souza's criticism of Obama did not ask "greater fundamental questions". Humanick concluded, "Anyone who's ever actually studied history outside of public education, or read the texts alluded to throughout America (such as Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States), will understand the degree to which history has been flattened and narratives simplified for the sake of lending greater legitimacy to these binary-reliant 'lessons.'"[40] Gabe Toro, reviewing for The Playlist, said, "The film plays out like more of a bullet-point presentation than an actual film, taking each argument he thinks liberal minds are having and dissecting each, cherry-picking anomalies in order to confront some sort of liberal 'truth' that doesn't exist." Toro called the documentary "artless propaganda, uninformed, sensationalistic and devoted to buzzphrases, ...simplicity, ...and grandstanding". The critic said, "Insidiously, these are some of the ways D'Souza and co-director John Sullivan keep the film brisk and conventionally entertaining... Filled with soaring guitars, pointless blacksmith montages and recreations with porn-level production values... it's all fist-pumping anti-thought, consisting of baseless revisionist history and idle contrarianism."[41]

Los Angeles Times's Martin Tsai, whose review Metacritic scored to be 40 out of 100, the highest of its sample of 11,[35] said, "He attempts to debunk [Howard] Zinn through apagoge, as if finding an exception to Zinn's every rule will invalidate Zinn's entire argument... D'Souza makes some cogent points yet will not concede the existence of any gray area. The possibility that he and Zinn could both be right seems unfathomable." Tsai said, "'America' seems more intent on editorializing, razzling and dazzling than on stimulating civic debate." He summarized, "It's far more invested in elaborate historical reenactments, hypothetical dramatizations and special effects than interviews, research and data."[42]

Political commentary

U.S. News & World Report's Nicole Hemmer said D'Souza's documentary was intended for conservatives and conveyed the premise that leftist radicals portrayed American history as shameful to win political power.[3] Simon van Zuylen-Wood, writing in National Journal, said the film treated "the radical-left worldview of marginal figures like Bill Ayers" as representative of American liberalism and that it engaged "in a selective historiography" like minimizing slavery in the United States by highlighting the existence of black slaveholders. Zuylen-Wood also compared D'Souza to liberal filmmaker Michael Moore in how both use their roots to convey their messages and how they are both central characters in their documentaries, introducing "one ideological pathology after another" to moviegoers.[15]

Mark Stricherz of The Atlantic said that D'Souza message suffered "the intellectual pitfalls of ignoring the critics", finding that he did not contextualize Obama's phrase "You didn't build that" in America. Stricherz said, "At times, America lives up to D'Souza's old intellectual standards. He meets in person with left-wing critics... He argues persuasively that Alexis de Tocqueville is a more reliable guide than Howard Zinn to troubling episodes in early American history such as slavery and the treatment of Native Americans." Stricherz concluded, "D'Souza's pride, his belief he needs neither intellectual nor moral critics, has brought about his fall from the first rank of conservative intellectuals."[43] John Tamny of Forbes said, "D’Souza's America is noble in its effort to discredit myths about the U.S. as a genocidal, thieving, racist, capitalistically rapacious nation, but really, who believes this? It's popular in the victimized portion of the conservative movement to assert that those who love the U.S., freedom, and the prosperity it delivers do so in silence out of fear that the majority haters will persecute them for having those views, but let's be serious. This extreme kind of thinking is all too rare as we all well know."[44]

John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U.S. progressive critique of the country: "D'Souza's film and his accompanying book are a no-holds-barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness." Fund said D'Souza's message was "deeply pessimistic" but concluded, "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."[4] National Review's Jay Nordlinger said: "Dinesh is the anti-Moore: taking to the big screen to press conservative points... The shame narrators (let's call them) focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story. Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in."[45] Nordlinger bisected the documentary: "The first [part] deals with the 'shame narrative.' The second deals with today's politics, and in particular presidential politics." The conservative commentator said: "The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh's great advantages is that he is absolutely clear-eyed about the Third World. While liberal Americans romanticize it, he has lived it."[46]

In the liberal Daily Kos blog, Dan Falcone wrote: "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."[47] Media Matters for America called the film "racially charged agitprop".[48] In Salon, Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig called it a "laughable embarrassment" which ranges "from atrociously bad argumentation to humiliating propaganda".[49]

Rebuttal of Howard Zinn

 
The writings of historian Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States, was a key focus in D'Souza's documentary

In the documentary, D'Souza counters four "indictments" of the United States made by historian Howard Zinn: the treatment of Native Americans, slavery, the transfer of Mexico, and its colonialist behavior. John Fund in National Review said, "Consider his treatment of those subjects as his direct rebuttal to... Zinn, whose textbooks treating America's history as one of ceaseless oppression dominate many American high schools and colleges."[4] Andrew Romano, writing for The Daily Beast, said Zinn was for D'Souza "a somewhat smaller target" than Obama in his previous documentary. Romano said the filmmaker's counterarguments were disingenuous and did not prove Zinn wrong.[50] U.S. News & World Report's Hemmer said D'Souza's statement that Zinn's book A People's History of the United States was part of mainstream education was incorrect: "Though influential, the book was hardly hegemonic. It was even sharply criticized by prominent historians." Hemmer said Eric Foner's textbook Give Me Liberty! was more common than Zinn's book and was even critical of the book as pessimistic.[3]

Treatment of Alinsky, Obama, and Clinton

In the documentary, D'Souza says Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were followers of the left-wing activist Saul Alinsky. John Fund of National Review said "D'Souza is the first filmmaker to mine the rich material showing the radicalism of Alinsky."[4] National Review's Jay Nordlinger said "I myself depart a bit from D'Souza on Alinskyism: I regard Obama and Hillary as mainstream Democrats, no different from Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, and the rest of the gang. And this gang commands the respect, or at least the votes, of approximately half the country."[46] Gabe Toro, reviewing for Indiewire's The Playlist, said D'Souza "flat-out compares" Alinsky to the Devil and then suggests Alinsky's influence on Clinton and Obama.[51] National Journal's Zuylen-Wood said despite Alinsky dying when Obama was a teenager in Hawaii, the film portrayed Obama as one of Alinsky's "most famous disciples".[15] U.S. News & World Report's Hemmer said Alinsky was a focus in D'Souza's film because President Obama was not up for reelection in 2016, so his argument about Obama's heritage could not apply to Hillary Clinton if she became a Presidential candidate. With Obama and Clinton both having links to Alinsky, Hemmer said Alinsky "has become the natural conduit to transfer criticisms of Obama to Clinton".[3]

The Guardian's Ben Beaumont-Thomas said Hillary Clinton was a key focus in the documentary due to the likelihood of her being a candidate in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Beaumont-Thomas said the TV networks NBC and CNN avoided producing miniseries about Clinton, "Both right- and leftwing voices expressed concern that the series would be either too favourable to Clinton or too politically cautious. Liberal voices will now likely clamour for a counterweight to D'Souza's film."[52]

Filmmaker's prosecution

Toward the end of the film, D'Souza shows himself on camera wearing handcuffs, referring to his criminal conviction for violating election campaign finance laws. Joseph Amodeo, a political scientist and policy researcher for The Huffington Post, said the scene "appears to be an apology to his 'fans' and an awkward show of penance for recent improprieties on his part."[53] Michael Berkowitz, also writing for The Huffington Post, said of the scene, "[D'Souza's] suggestion that his own criminal conviction and his cheating on his wife are the result of political targeting are embarrassing and without support."[54] National Review's Fund said of the scene, "He clearly conveys his view that he was selectively prosecuted. But viewers should take the film on its own merits, he says, regardless of what they think of him."[4]

Proposed legislation

 
 
Florida's State Senator Alan Hays and State Representative Neil Combee both filed a bill to require Florida's students to see the documentary

Alan Hays, a Republican member of the Florida State Senate, saw America in theaters in July 2014 and subsequently announced his intent to propose state legislation to require middle school and high school students in Florida's public school system to see the film. Hays said, "I've looked at history books and talked to history teachers and the message the students are getting is very different from what is in the movie. It's dishonest and insulting. The students need to see the truth without political favoritism." Hays said he would not object if America was paired with a liberal film and that he would requisition copies of America from charitable groups to give schools to avoid burdening Florida's taxpayers.[55] In November 2014, Hays filed a bill in the state senate to require seeing the documentary.[56][57] The Tampa Bay Times said Hays "received heavy criticism that he was foisting propaganda on children".[58] Hays asked Neil Combee, a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, to support his bill. After Combee watched the documentary and discussed it, he agreed to file a companion bill.[11][59] Combee filed the House bill in the following December, and the Times said the companion bill increased the likelihood of the legislation being adopted.[58] The proposed bill required all of Florida's eighth and eleventh graders to watch America. The bill includes an option for parents to opt their children out of the film screening.[11]

The liberal advocacy group People for the American Way criticized it for supporting a political documentary and as a cinematic selection by legislators rather than educators.[58] Southwest Florida's television station WINK-TV reported that critics said the legislation was "propaganda and ignorant". The head of Collier County's local Libertarian Party, Jared Grifoni, did not contest the content but the attempted requirement, "We should be working to get rid of political and social engineering in schools regardless which side of the aisle is pushing it. This is the right side of the aisle pushing their agenda on students while accusing the left of the same thing."[60]

The House bill garnered eight co-sponsors.[61] It ultimately died in the K-12 Subcommittee on April 28, 2015.[59] The Senate bill died in the Committee on Pre-K to 12 on May 1, 2015.[57]

See also

References

  1. ^ . The Wrap. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c "America (2014)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Hemmer, Nicole (July 29, 2014). "The Paranoid Style in Conservative Politics". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d e Fund, John (June 29, 2014). "D'Souza's America: Dinesh D'ouza takes on Obama, Hillary, Saul Alinsky, and Howard Zinn in a single bold film". National Review. Retrieved August 19, 2014.
  5. ^ Buchanan, Jason. "Synopsis". Fandango.com. Rovi.
  6. ^ Harrod, Andrew E. (July 2, 2014). "Imaging a World without America; Dinesh D'Souza's New Film Refutes Detractors Who Scorn Her History". The Washington Times. Washington, DC. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
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  8. ^ Sipe, Corey (July 8, 2014). "Colchester actor plays George Washington in new film". Hartford Courant. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
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  10. ^ Bond, Paul (May 28, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza's 'America' to Feature Megadeth Founder's Heavy Metal National Anthem". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  11. ^ a b c d Atteberry, Emily (January 17, 2015). "Controversial film could be required in Florida's high schools". The News-Press. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
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  13. ^ Bond, Paul (March 7, 2014). "New Trailer for Dinesh D'Souza's 'America': Watch George Washington Killed". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  14. ^ Bond, Paul (June 19, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza's 'America' Marketing Targets Church Groups". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  15. ^ a b c Van Zuylen-Wood, Simon (September 13, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza Is Winning". National Journal. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  16. ^ Barnhart, Melissa (July 9, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza Says Costco's Decision to Pull His Book From Stores Was Political". The Christian Post. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  17. ^ Connelly, Joel (July 8, 2014). "Costco pulls book by anti-Obama author Dinesh D'Souza from its stores". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  18. ^ Chasmar, Jessica (July 9, 2014). "Costco caves: Dinesh D'Souza's book to be re-stocked after public outcry". The Washington Times. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  19. ^ Bond, Paul (July 8, 2014). "'America' Filmmakers Demand to Know Why Google is Getting Their Search Results Wrong". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  20. ^ Pulver, Andrew (July 9, 2014). "Rightwing US film-maker claims Google search is politically biased". The Guardian. Retrieved December 10, 2014.
  21. ^ Patten, Dominic (July 18, 2014). "Dinesh D'Souza's 'America' Slams Google Again Over Missing Search Results". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  22. ^ McKay, Hollie (July 16, 2014). "Google responds to problems with searches for Dinesh D'Souza's 'America'". FOX News. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  23. ^ Bond, Paul (August 7, 2014). "President Obama, Congress Invited to Free 'America' Movie Screening". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
  24. ^ McNary, Dave (May 6, 2014). "Lionsgate to Distribute Controversial Documentary 'America: Imagine the World Without Her'". Variety. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  25. ^ Wiseman, Andreas (May 15, 2014). "Manifest boards doc America". Screen Daily. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  26. ^ McClintock, Pamela (June 29, 2014). "Box Office: Dinesh D'Souza's 'America' Enjoys Solid Launch in Houston, Atlanta". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 6, 2014.
  27. ^ a b 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.
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Further reading

External links

 
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January 07, 2023
america, imagine, world, without, 2014, american, political, documentary, film, dinesh, souza, based, book, same, name, follow, film, 2016, obama, america, 2012, film, souza, contends, that, parts, united, states, history, improperly, negatively, highlighted, . America Imagine the World Without Her is a 2014 American political documentary film by Dinesh D Souza based on his book of the same name It is a follow up to his film 2016 Obama s America 2012 In the film D Souza contends that parts of United States history are improperly and negatively highlighted by liberals which he seeks to counter with positive highlights Topics addressed include conquest of Indigenous and Mexican lands slavery and matters relating to foreign policy and capitalism 3 4 D Souza collaborated with John Sullivan and Bruce Schooley to adapt his book of the same name into a screenplay D Souza produced the film with Gerald R Molen and directed it with Sullivan The film combined historical reenactments with interviews with different political figures America Imagine the World Without HerTheatrical release posterDirected byDinesh D Souza John SullivanWritten byDinesh D Souza John Sullivan Bruce SchooleyBased onAmerica Imagine the World Without Herby Dinesh D SouzaProduced byDinesh D Souza Gerald R MolenStarringDinesh D SouzaCinematographyBenjamin HuddlestonEdited byRickie Lee Jeffrey LinfordMusic byBryan E MillerDistributed byLionsgateRelease dateJune 27 2014 2014 06 27 Running time103 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishBudget 5 million 1 Box office 14 4 million 2 America Imagine the World Without Her was marketed to political conservatives and through Christian marketing firms Lionsgate released the film in three theaters on June 27 2014 and expanded its distribution on the weekend of the U S holiday Independence Day on July 4 2014 The film grossed 14 4 million which made it the highest grossing documentary in the United States in 2014 though D Souza s previous documentary 2016 Obama s America had grossed over 33 million Most professional film critics called the film poorly made and partisan Political commentators analyzed D Souza s rebuttal of Howard Zinn s criticisms the filmmaker s treatment of Saul Alinsky Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and D Souza s depiction of his own criminal prosecution Conservative commentators expressed a mix of full and qualified support for the documentary and D Souza s intentions Contents 1 Synopsis 2 Cast 3 Interviews 4 Cameos 5 Production 6 Marketing 7 Release 8 Critical response 9 Political commentary 9 1 Rebuttal of Howard Zinn 9 2 Treatment of Alinsky Obama and Clinton 9 3 Filmmaker s prosecution 10 Proposed legislation 11 See also 12 References 13 Further reading 14 External linksSynopsis EditSetting 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 5 D Souza identifies himself as an Indian immigrant who chose America and has been impressed with what a unique force for good it is something Americans have traditionally agreed with 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 Alinsky 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 the American Indian depopulation that occurred during European colonization resulted from the accidental transmission of plagues which had earlier devastated Europe not from an intent to wipe out a people The film argues that 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 Tejano 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 attempts to outline how somewhat free enterprise and consumer choice rather than coercion have possibly raised living standards by making existing goods cheaper and creating new ones 6 Cast EditJohn Koopman as General George Washington founding father Continental Army general and 1st President of the United States Jodie Moore as old George Washington Caroline Granger as Martha Washington Lynette Bennette as old Martha Washington Don Taylor as President Abraham Lincoln American lawyer and 16th President of the United States Josh Bonzie as Frederick Douglass Janitta Swain as Madame C J Walker first female self made millionaire and philanthropist Michelle Swink as Mary Todd Lincoln Abraham Lincoln s wife Rett Terrell as Alexis de Toqueville Rodney Luis Aquino as Hernan Cortes Michael D Arite as Major Henry Rathbone Chad Baker as Gustave de Beaumont Rich Bentz as Saul D Alinsky Todd Trice as Stephen Douglas Chris Bauza as young John Fer Chad Baker as Gustave de Beaumont Walker Theodore Thomas as William Ellison Corey Dykes as Christopher Columbus Jen Pierce as young Hillary ClintonInterviews EditD Souza conducted interviews with the following individuals 7 Charmaine White Face a Native American activist Charles Truxillo a professor of Chicano at University of New Mexico Noam Chomsky a political commentator and anarcho syndicalist activist Michael Eric Dyson a professor of sociology at Georgetown University Rand Paul the junior United States senator for Kentucky Ted Cruz the junior United States senator from Texas Temo Muniz law student and Hispanic activist Ronald Radosh former Communist Party USA member and American writer Alan Dershowitz a scholar on United States constitutional law and criminal law John Fer a U S Air Force pilot and former POW of the Vietnam War Ward Churchill American author and political activist Jagdish Bhagwati professor of economics and law at Columbia University Star Parker American syndicated columnist and conservative political activist Stanley Kurtz Harvey Silverglate American authorCameos EditThe following persons appear in cameos via archive footage Martin Luther King Jr Bill Ayers Richard Nixon Barack Obama Joe Biden Nancy Pelosi Ronald Reagan Elizabeth Warren Becky Gerritson Steve Jobs Bill Gates Aaron Swartz Matt Damon Bono Sean Hannity Megyn KellyProduction EditAmerica Imagine the World Without Her is directed by Dinesh D Souza and John Sullivan The two wrote a screenplay with Bruce Schooley based on D Souza s book of the same title The documentary was produced under the director s company D Souza Entertainment Sullivan said he was inspired by the History Channel miniseries The Men Who Built America I really thought that there was something in that style which allows you to tell a bigger story The director said the fiscal success of 2016 Obama s America allowed the filmmakers to raise financing for America Re enactment scenes were filmed in Camden South Carolina Actor John Koopman III a resident of Colchester Connecticut who had portrayed General George Washington at state and national parks throughout the United States was cast to portray Washington in the documentary Koopman brought his own historical wardrobe and horse for filming which took place in Camden over the course of four days 8 The filmmakers chose to feature clips of celebrities including Woody Harrelson Matt Damon and Bono to illustrate the documentary s points to audiences who may be unfamiliar with historical figures like Frederick Douglass Harrelson is shown condemning the United States s treatment of Native Americans The film also shows Howard Zinn s history book A People s History of the United States being mentioned by Damon s character in the film Good Will Hunting as well as in the TV series The Sopranos A clip featuring Bono who did not participate in the production is shown to illustrate support for American exceptionalism 9 The filmmakers also sought to license the song It s America recorded by Rodney Atkins but the licensing was denied by one of the songwriters due to the political premise of the documentary They instead involved Dave Mustaine founder of Megadeth who recorded a heavy metal guitar version of The Star Spangled Banner for the film The filmmakers also licensed the song America by Imagine Dragons and Home by Phillip Phillips 10 In addition to the theatrical cut D Souza edited an 80 minute cut for educational purposes removing interviews with political pundits He said It s all purely historical content now 11 Marketing EditD Souza released the trailer for America Imagine the World Without Her on January 26 2014 12 He later screened the trailer to 3 500 attendees at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington DC on March 7 2014 13 The filmmakers hired Christian marketing firms to create a sermon replete with video clips based on the documentary and make it available for download The Hollywood Reporter said on June 19 2014 that over 1 000 preachers had downloaded the sermon and that insiders expected the number to reach 5 000 before the film s release The filmmakers also emailed 120 000 evangelical churches asking them to promote the film and hired the company Faithit com to contact 80 000 Christian consumers 14 In the following July D Souza and fellow filmmaker Bruce Schooley traveled to the state of Texas to promote the documentary on radio and television programs owned by Glenn Beck 15 D Souza wrote the book America Imagine the World Without Her on which the documentary is based Shortly before the film s release the warehouse club Costco pulled the book from its shelves saying its action was due to low sales D Souza called Costco s explanation preposterous and noted that his book had only been out a few weeks and was ranked 1 on Amazon com s bestseller list while Costco continued to stock hundreds of much lower selling books D Souza asserted the book was pulled because one of Costco s co founders James Sinegal supported Obama s politics Rush Limbaugh and other media voices on the political right supported D Souza with widespread criticism of Costco 16 17 Costco reordered the book and cited the documentary s release and related interest for the reorder 18 Since America Imagine the World Without Her and its predecessor 2016 Obama s America share America in their titles several film websites including Rotten Tomatoes Yahoo Movies and MovieTickets com had difficulty presenting results for the newer documentary While these websites resolved the results the filmmakers contacted the search engine Google to complain about a lack of immediate search results pertaining to the documentary Other results including 2016 Obama s America and Captain America The First Avenger and Captain America The Winter Soldier were being shown instead They expressed concern that a lack of results including showtimes would affect the documentary s gross 19 D Souza claimed that the lack of search results was politically motivated on Google s part 20 A preliminary fix stopped listing results for either of D Souza s documentaries Google said the term America being common in film titles prevented specific results and it updated its Knowledge Graph to show results for the 2014 documentary 21 22 In August 2014 the nonprofit organization Movie to Movement invited President Barack Obama and members of the United States Congress to a free screening of America The Hollywood Reporter said the organization helps to promote small wholesome movies many of which seem to have a Christian or conservative theme to them though the group is non partisan Movie to Movement s founder and CEO said he budgeted 5 500 to pay for the politicians tickets and would secure delivery of a digital copy if the documentary was not available in a theater near a politician 23 Release EditLionsgate which handled home entertainment distribution for D Souza s previous film 2016 Obama s America acquired rights to distribute America Imagine the World Without Her in theaters in the United States Historically it distributed in theaters two political documentaries Fahrenheit 9 11 2004 and Religulous 2008 24 The UK based Manifest Film Sales acquired rights to distribute America outside the United States with the goal of screening the documentary at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival but the screening did not take place 25 Lionsgate gave the film a limited release in three theaters in the U S cities Atlanta and Houston on June 27 2014 The cities were selected for premiering America since 2016 Obama s America performed well in them in 2012 The Hollywood Reporter said America opened to solid numbers with 39 000 for a theater average of 13 000 The distributor then planned a wide release for the weekend of the U S holiday Independence Day on July 4 2014 26 On July 2 2014 Lionsgate expanded the release to 1 105 theaters For the weekend of July 4 6 2014 it grossed 2 7 million and ranked 11th at the box office 2 CinemaScore reported that its sample of opening night audiences gave the film a rare A grade on a scale of A to F 27 28 The film concluded its theatrical run after 70 days with a total gross of 14 4 million 2 The Hollywood Reporter said the gross was a very strong showing for a documentary film 29 For 2014 America was the highest grossing documentary in the United States 30 The film did not perform as well as 2016 Obama s America which grossed over 33 million 27 To date America ranks as the sixth highest grossing political documentary in the United States 31 Lionsgate released the film on Digital HD on October 14 2014 and on DVD and Blu ray on October 28 2014 32 a week before the national Election Day on November 4 The home media included 40 minutes of additional footage including interviews with Ted Cruz Ward Churchill Star Parker and former prisoner of war John Fer 32 For the week ending November 2 2014 it ranked third in disc sales after X Men Days of Future Past and Mr Peabody amp Sherman It ranked seventh in Blu ray sales with 26 of discs sold being Blu ray 33 Critical response EditThe Times Picayune reported America wasn t widely screened for critics but the first handful of reviews are not particularly glowing saying that the reviews essentially labeled the film as partisan 34 The News Press reported America has been criticized by some as offensive right wing propaganda 11 The film review website Metacritic surveyed 11 movie critics and assessed 10 reviews as negative and 1 as mixed with none being positive It gave a weighted average score of 15 out of 100 indicating overwhelming dislike 35 Rotten Tomatoes surveyed 24 critics and categorizing the reviews as positive or negative assessed 22 as negative and 2 as positive Of the 24 reviews it determined an average rating of 4 out of 10 The website gave the film an overall score of 8 and the site s consensus stated Passionate but poorly constructed America preaches to the choir 36 According to The Hollywood Reporter s Paul Bond the film performed well in its limited theatrical release overcoming several negative reviews in the mainstream media Bond reported Conservatives seem thrilled with the movie 9 USA Today s Bryan Alexander said America was savaged by mainstream critics It received an 8 critical score on RottenTomatoes com But the film received an 88 positive audience score on the same website 32 Joe Leydon reviewing for Variety called America a slick sprawling celebration of American exceptionalism that could much like its predecessor make a bundle by rigorously reinforcing the deeply held beliefs and darkest suspicions of its target audience Leydon said the acting in the historical re enactments was of inconsistent quality The critic found that D Souza gave screen time to those with whom he disagreed but said For the most part however D Souza gives the impression of someone obsessed with whitewashing any and all dark chapters in U S history books Leydon commended the documentary s tech values as well as composer Bryan E Miller s opening theme 7 The Hollywood Reporter s Stephen Farber said D Souza overstated anti American tenets ostensibly running rampant in our society and that his responses to critiques of America aren t very convincing Farber said of the film s production quality The battle scenes are competent but no more than that and the performances are perfunctory at best Farber said the historical re enactments would not impress moviegoers who had seen many other historical films though he called Ben Huddleston s cinematography striking The critic concluded Here is one more dubious piece of agitprop that will delight the author s fans and have very little impact on his opponents 37 Metacritic scored each trade paper s review of the film to be 30 out of 100 35 Metacritic assessed reviews from The A V Club Indiewire s The Playlist Slant Magazine and TheWrap as fully negative with no merit given 35 TheWrap s James Rocchi said the documentary had straw man arguments favoring D Souza and had anecdotes in place of data The film is intellectually and factually spurious in addition to being deeply self serving Rocchi called America technically inept with clumsy editing and added The sound mix is incomprehensibly sloppy Graphics look slapdash historical recreations are either cheap looking unintentionally funny or both The critic said while liberal filmmaker Michael Moore may be self important at his worst that he could direct a better film than D Souza and Sullivan 38 The A V Club s David Ehrlich also said America had straw man arguments D Souza and Sullivan are hellbent on pacifying the American guilt they believe was responsible for Obama s election desperately attempting to assuage the national conscience about the evils of colonialism capitalism and racism Ehrlich said It s admirable that D Souza is so willing to engage people who don t share his perspective but his editing and the instructive music with which he pushes it suggest that he s not particularly interested in what they have to say 39 Rob Humanick reviewing for Slant Magazine said The cynically opportunistic America descends into another one note attack on the sitting president beholden to the same plethora of taboos half truths and outright lies traded en masse by mainstream conservatism for the last seven years Humanick called the documentary a carefully cultivated collection of false equivalencies hyperbolic pronouncements blatant recontextualizations of others arguments and shameless appeals to patriotism all within a vaguely fear mongering framework of demonizing the other The critic said exceptions were cited to excuse America s history and that D Souza s criticism of Obama did not ask greater fundamental questions Humanick concluded Anyone who s ever actually studied history outside of public education or read the texts alluded to throughout America such as Howard Zinn s A People s History of the United States will understand the degree to which history has been flattened and narratives simplified for the sake of lending greater legitimacy to these binary reliant lessons 40 Gabe Toro reviewing for The Playlist said The film plays out like more of a bullet point presentation than an actual film taking each argument he thinks liberal minds are having and dissecting each cherry picking anomalies in order to confront some sort of liberal truth that doesn t exist Toro called the documentary artless propaganda uninformed sensationalistic and devoted to buzzphrases simplicity and grandstanding The critic said Insidiously these are some of the ways D Souza and co director John Sullivan keep the film brisk and conventionally entertaining Filled with soaring guitars pointless blacksmith montages and recreations with porn level production values it s all fist pumping anti thought consisting of baseless revisionist history and idle contrarianism 41 Los Angeles Times s Martin Tsai whose review Metacritic scored to be 40 out of 100 the highest of its sample of 11 35 said He attempts to debunk Howard Zinn through apagoge as if finding an exception to Zinn s every rule will invalidate Zinn s entire argument D Souza makes some cogent points yet will not concede the existence of any gray area The possibility that he and Zinn could both be right seems unfathomable Tsai said America seems more intent on editorializing razzling and dazzling than on stimulating civic debate He summarized It s far more invested in elaborate historical reenactments hypothetical dramatizations and special effects than interviews research and data 42 Political commentary EditU S News amp World Report s Nicole Hemmer said D Souza s documentary was intended for conservatives and conveyed the premise that leftist radicals portrayed American history as shameful to win political power 3 Simon van Zuylen Wood writing in National Journal said the film treated the radical left worldview of marginal figures like Bill Ayers as representative of American liberalism and that it engaged in a selective historiography like minimizing slavery in the United States by highlighting the existence of black slaveholders Zuylen Wood also compared D Souza to liberal filmmaker Michael Moore in how both use their roots to convey their messages and how they are both central characters in their documentaries introducing one ideological pathology after another to moviegoers 15 Mark Stricherz of The Atlantic said that D Souza message suffered the intellectual pitfalls of ignoring the critics finding that he did not contextualize Obama s phrase You didn t build that in America Stricherz said At times America lives up to D Souza s old intellectual standards He meets in person with left wing critics He argues persuasively that Alexis de Tocqueville is a more reliable guide than Howard Zinn to troubling episodes in early American history such as slavery and the treatment of Native Americans Stricherz concluded D Souza s pride his belief he needs neither intellectual nor moral critics has brought about his fall from the first rank of conservative intellectuals 43 John Tamny of Forbes said D Souza s America is noble in its effort to discredit myths about the U S as a genocidal thieving racist capitalistically rapacious nation but really who believes this It s popular in the victimized portion of the conservative movement to assert that those who love the U S freedom and the prosperity it delivers do so in silence out of fear that the majority haters will persecute them for having those views but let s be serious This extreme kind of thinking is all too rare as we all well know 44 John Fund of National Review said the documentary was a response to U S progressive critique of the country D Souza s film and his accompanying book are a no holds barred assault on the contemporary doctrine of political correctness Fund said D Souza s message was deeply pessimistic but concluded 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 4 National Review s Jay Nordlinger said Dinesh is the anti Moore taking to the big screen to press conservative points The shame narrators let s call them focus on maybe 20 percent of the American story Dinesh simply puts the other 80 percent back in 45 Nordlinger bisected the documentary The first part deals with the shame narrative The second deals with today s politics and in particular presidential politics The conservative commentator said The second movie confirms for me that one of Dinesh s great advantages is that he is absolutely clear eyed about the Third World While liberal Americans romanticize it he has lived it 46 In the liberal Daily Kos blog Dan Falcone wrote 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 47 Media Matters for America called the film racially charged agitprop 48 In Salon Elizabeth Stoker Bruenig called it a laughable embarrassment which ranges from atrociously bad argumentation to humiliating propaganda 49 Rebuttal of Howard Zinn Edit The writings of historian Howard Zinn author of A People s History of the United States was a key focus in D Souza s documentary In the documentary D Souza counters four indictments of the United States made by historian Howard Zinn the treatment of Native Americans slavery the transfer of Mexico and its colonialist behavior John Fund in National Review said Consider his treatment of those subjects as his direct rebuttal to Zinn whose textbooks treating America s history as one of ceaseless oppression dominate many American high schools and colleges 4 Andrew Romano writing for The Daily Beast said Zinn was for D Souza a somewhat smaller target than Obama in his previous documentary Romano said the filmmaker s counterarguments were disingenuous and did not prove Zinn wrong 50 U S News amp World Report s Hemmer said D Souza s statement that Zinn s book A People s History of the United States was part of mainstream education was incorrect Though influential the book was hardly hegemonic It was even sharply criticized by prominent historians Hemmer said Eric Foner s textbook Give Me Liberty was more common than Zinn s book and was even critical of the book as pessimistic 3 Treatment of Alinsky Obama and Clinton Edit In the documentary D Souza says Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were followers of the left wing activist Saul Alinsky John Fund of National Review said D Souza is the first filmmaker to mine the rich material showing the radicalism of Alinsky 4 National Review s Jay Nordlinger said I myself depart a bit from D Souza on Alinskyism I regard Obama and Hillary as mainstream Democrats no different from Nancy Pelosi John Kerry and the rest of the gang And this gang commands the respect or at least the votes of approximately half the country 46 Gabe Toro reviewing for Indiewire s The Playlist said D Souza flat out compares Alinsky to the Devil and then suggests Alinsky s influence on Clinton and Obama 51 National Journal s Zuylen Wood said despite Alinsky dying when Obama was a teenager in Hawaii the film portrayed Obama as one of Alinsky s most famous disciples 15 U S News amp World Report s Hemmer said Alinsky was a focus in D Souza s film because President Obama was not up for reelection in 2016 so his argument about Obama s heritage could not apply to Hillary Clinton if she became a Presidential candidate With Obama and Clinton both having links to Alinsky Hemmer said Alinsky has become the natural conduit to transfer criticisms of Obama to Clinton 3 The Guardian s Ben Beaumont Thomas said Hillary Clinton was a key focus in the documentary due to the likelihood of her being a candidate in the 2016 U S presidential election Beaumont Thomas said the TV networks NBC and CNN avoided producing miniseries about Clinton Both right and leftwing voices expressed concern that the series would be either too favourable to Clinton or too politically cautious Liberal voices will now likely clamour for a counterweight to D Souza s film 52 Filmmaker s prosecution Edit Toward the end of the film D Souza shows himself on camera wearing handcuffs referring to his criminal conviction for violating election campaign finance laws Joseph Amodeo a political scientist and policy researcher for The Huffington Post said the scene appears to be an apology to his fans and an awkward show of penance for recent improprieties on his part 53 Michael Berkowitz also writing for The Huffington Post said of the scene D Souza s suggestion that his own criminal conviction and his cheating on his wife are the result of political targeting are embarrassing and without support 54 National Review s Fund said of the scene He clearly conveys his view that he was selectively prosecuted But viewers should take the film on its own merits he says regardless of what they think of him 4 Proposed legislation Edit Florida s State Senator Alan Hays and State Representative Neil Combee both filed a bill to require Florida s students to see the documentary Alan Hays a Republican member of the Florida State Senate saw America in theaters in July 2014 and subsequently announced his intent to propose state legislation to require middle school and high school students in Florida s public school system to see the film Hays said I ve looked at history books and talked to history teachers and the message the students are getting is very different from what is in the movie It s dishonest and insulting The students need to see the truth without political favoritism Hays said he would not object if America was paired with a liberal film and that he would requisition copies of America from charitable groups to give schools to avoid burdening Florida s taxpayers 55 In November 2014 Hays filed a bill in the state senate to require seeing the documentary 56 57 The Tampa Bay Times said Hays received heavy criticism that he was foisting propaganda on children 58 Hays asked Neil Combee a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives to support his bill After Combee watched the documentary and discussed it he agreed to file a companion bill 11 59 Combee filed the House bill in the following December and the Times said the companion bill increased the likelihood of the legislation being adopted 58 The proposed bill required all of Florida s eighth and eleventh graders to watch America The bill includes an option for parents to opt their children out of the film screening 11 The liberal advocacy group People for the American Way criticized it for supporting a political documentary and as a cinematic selection by legislators rather than educators 58 Southwest Florida s television station WINK TV reported that critics said the legislation was propaganda and ignorant The head of Collier County s local Libertarian Party Jared Grifoni did not contest the content but the attempted requirement We should be working to get rid of political and social engineering in schools regardless which side of the aisle is pushing it This is the right side of the aisle pushing their agenda on students while accusing the left of the same thing 60 The House bill garnered eight co sponsors 61 It ultimately died in the K 12 Subcommittee on April 28 2015 59 The Senate bill died in the Committee on Pre K to 12 on May 1 2015 57 See also Edit Film portal Journalism portalPolitical cinema List of documentary filmsReferences Edit America 2014 The Wrap Archived from the original on March 6 2017 Retrieved December 2 2016 a b c America 2014 Box Office Mojo Retrieved November 6 2014 a b c d Hemmer Nicole July 29 2014 The Paranoid Style in Conservative Politics U S News amp World Report Retrieved December 10 2014 a b c d e Fund John June 29 2014 D Souza s America Dinesh D ouza takes on Obama Hillary Saul Alinsky and Howard Zinn in a single bold film National Review Retrieved August 19 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 The Washington Times Washington DC Retrieved July 28 2014 a b Leydon Joe June 27 2014 Film Review America Imagine the World Without Her Variety Retrieved December 11 2014 Sipe Corey July 8 2014 Colchester actor plays George Washington in new film Hartford Courant Retrieved December 10 2014 a b Bond Paul July 5 2014 Why Dinesh D Souza s America Features Clips of Matt Damon Woody Harrelson The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 23 2019 Bond Paul May 28 2014 Dinesh D Souza s America to Feature Megadeth Founder s Heavy Metal National Anthem The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved December 10 2014 a b c d Atteberry Emily January 17 2015 Controversial film could be required in Florida s high schools The News Press Retrieved January 19 2015 Bond Paul January 26 2014 Dinesh D Souza s America Trailer Released The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 6 2014 Bond Paul March 7 2014 New Trailer for Dinesh D Souza s America Watch George Washington Killed The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 6 2014 Bond Paul June 19 2014 Dinesh D Souza s America Marketing Targets Church Groups The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 6 2014 a b c Van Zuylen Wood Simon September 13 2014 Dinesh D Souza Is Winning National Journal Retrieved December 10 2014 Barnhart Melissa July 9 2014 Dinesh D Souza Says Costco s Decision to Pull His Book From Stores Was Political The Christian Post Retrieved November 6 2014 Connelly Joel July 8 2014 Costco pulls book by anti Obama author Dinesh D Souza from its stores Seattle Post Intelligencer Retrieved November 6 2014 Chasmar Jessica July 9 2014 Costco caves Dinesh D Souza s book to be re stocked after public outcry The Washington Times Retrieved November 6 2014 Bond Paul July 8 2014 America Filmmakers Demand to Know Why Google is Getting Their Search Results Wrong The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 6 2014 Pulver Andrew July 9 2014 Rightwing US film maker claims Google search is politically biased The Guardian Retrieved December 10 2014 Patten Dominic July 18 2014 Dinesh D Souza s America Slams Google Again Over Missing Search Results Deadline Hollywood Retrieved November 6 2014 McKay Hollie July 16 2014 Google responds to problems with searches for Dinesh D Souza s America FOX News Retrieved November 6 2014 Bond Paul August 7 2014 President Obama Congress Invited to Free America Movie Screening The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved January 20 2015 McNary Dave May 6 2014 Lionsgate to Distribute Controversial Documentary America Imagine the World Without Her Variety Retrieved November 6 2014 Wiseman Andreas May 15 2014 Manifest boards doc America Screen Daily Retrieved November 6 2014 McClintock Pamela June 29 2014 Box Office Dinesh D Souza s America Enjoys Solid Launch in Houston Atlanta The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved November 6 2014 a b 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 Subers Ray July 6 2014 Weekend Report Transformers Repeats On Weak Independence Day Weekend Box Office Mojo Retrieved March 4 2018 Bond Paul December 15 2014 Gosnell Movie Adds 2016 Co Director John Sullivan as Executive Producer The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved December 15 2014 Gray Tim December 2 2014 15 Documentaries Land on Oscar s Short List Variety Retrieved December 10 2014 Documentary Political boxofficemojo com Box Office Mojo Retrieved November 6 2014 a b c Alexander Bryan August 27 2014 Exclusive Controversial America sets home release USA Today Retrieved December 10 2014 Arnold Thomas K November 5 2014 X Men Days of Future Past Holds No 1 Spot for Third Week on Home Video Sales Charts Variety Retrieved November 6 2014 Scott Mike July 3 2014 Dinesh D Souza s America movie reviews What critics are saying about the conservative author s new documentary The Times Picayune Retrieved December 12 2014 a b c d America Reviews Metacritic Archived from the original on July 26 2014 Retrieved November 3 2014 America Imagine the World Without Her Rotten Tomatoes Retrieved July 23 2019 Farber Stephen July 2 2014 America Film Review The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved December 11 2014 Rocchi James June 29 2014 America Review Another Dinesh D Souza Doc That s Easy to Mock TheWrap Retrieved December 11 2014 Ehrlich David July 3 2014 The director of 2016 Obama s America is at it again with America The A V Club Retrieved December 11 2014 Humanick Rob 2014 America Film Review Slant Magazine Retrieved December 11 2014 Toro Gabe June 30 2014 Review Is Dinesh D Souza s America The Worst Political Documentary Of All Time The Playlist Indiewire Retrieved December 11 2014 Tsai Martin July 2 2014 Review America documentary rebuts history of exploitation argument Los Angeles Times Retrieved December 11 2014 Stricherz Mark July 25 2014 What Happened to Dinesh D Souza The Atlantic Retrieved December 12 2014 Tamny John July 20 2014 Dinesh D Souza s America Will Have Some Conservatives Yearning For Michael Moore s Forbes Retrieved January 19 2015 Nordlinger Jay July 21 2014 D Souza Nation Part I National Review Retrieved January 19 2014 a b Nordlinger Jay July 22 2014 D Souza Nation Part II National Review Retrieved January 19 2014 The Big Lie The Film America Daily Kos July 31 2014 Retrieved October 31 2014 Boghun Alexandrea July 9 2014 Five Media Figures Who Endorse Dinesh D Souza s Racially Charged Agitprop Media Matters for America Retrieved October 31 2014 Dinesh D Souza s laughable embarrassment A review of America Imagine the World Without Her Salon July 22 2014 Retrieved October 31 2014 Romano Andrew June 30 2014 In Dinesh D Souza s America Slavery Wasn t So Bad but Hillary and Barack Are Socialist Devils The Daily Beast Retrieved December 4 2014 Toro Gabe June 30 2014 Review Is Dinesh D Souza s America The Worst Political Documentary Of All Time The Playlist Indiewire Retrieved December 4 2014 Beaumont Thomas Ben June 13 2014 Rightwing film maker Dinesh D Souza tackles Hillary Clinton in America The Guardian Retrieved December 10 2014 Amodeo Joseph July 24 2014 D Souza s Shameful Treatment of Conservatives Highlights Need for a Renaissance of Intellectual Conservatism The Huffington Post Retrieved August 19 2014 Berkowitz Michael July 8 2014 America Dinesh D Souza s Deceptions The Huffington Post Retrieved August 19 2014 Bond Paul July 25 2014 Lawmaker to Push Bill Requiring Dinesh D Souza s America Be Shown in Schools The Hollywood Reporter Retrieved January 20 2015 Cotterell Bill November 19 2014 Cotterell Bill aims to expose students to conservative side Tallahassee Democrat Retrieved December 10 2014 a b SB 96 Patriotic Film Screening flsenate gov Florida State Senate November 18 2014 Retrieved December 10 2014 a b c Solochek Jeffrey S December 10 2014 Bill to require controversial documentary in schools gets a House sponsor Tampa Bay Times Retrieved December 11 2014 a b HB 77 Patriotic Film Screening myfloridahouse gov Florida House of Representatives December 8 2014 Retrieved December 11 2014 Papageorge Nicole January 19 2015 Lawmakers may require students to watch controversial film to graduate winknews com WINK TV Retrieved January 20 2015 Maxwell Scott May 19 2015 Beer movies guns The issues you aren t reading about this year Orlando Sentinel Retrieved May 20 2015 Further reading EditD Souza Dinesh 2014 America Imagine a World Without Her Book for which the film is a companion Regnery Publishing ISBN 978 1 62157 203 9 External links Edit Wikiquote has quotations related to America Imagine the World Without Her Official website America Imagine the World Without Her at IMDb America Imagine the World Without Her at Box Office Mojo America Imagine the World Without Her at Rotten Tomatoes America Imagine the World Without Her at Metacritic Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title America Imagine the World Without Her amp oldid 1107657637, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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