Never underestimate the influence of Hollywood-War Propaganda(2)

The beginning of War Spin is the famous story of "Saving the Private Lynch". The video showing how American soldiers rescuing Private Jessica Lynch looked extremely familiar to some Hollywood films. In fact, one of the biggest Hollywood producer Jake Bruckheimer and fellow producer Bertram van Munster have been associated with this story in all kinds of later reports as they share a good relationship with Pentagon. During this film, the video was used to compare with the famous film "Black Hawk Down" which was also produced by Bruckheimer and shared the same "rescue" plot,and even the camera shooting looked similar.

According to John Kampfne from the Guardian:"Back in 2001, the man behind Black Hawk Down, Jerry Bruckheimer, had visited the Pentagon to pitch an idea. Bruckheimer and fellow producer Bertram van Munster, who masterminded the reality show Cops, suggested Profiles from the Front Line, a primetime television series following US forces in Afghanistan. They were after human stories told through the eyes of the soldiers. Van Munster's aim was to get close and personal. He said: 'You can only get accepted by these people through chemistry. You have to have a bond with somebody. Only then will they let you in. What these guys are doing out there, these men and women, is just extraordinary. If you're a cheerleader of our point of view - that we deserve peace and that we deal with human dignity - then these guys are really going out on a limb and risking their own lives.'

It was perfect reality TV, made with the active cooperation of Donald Rumsfeld and aired just before the Iraqi war. The Pentagon liked what it saw. That approached was taken on and developed on the field of battle in Iraq."

Now most opinions tend to believe there's a big twist in Jessica Lynch story. While at that time, when this video was first released by Pentagon, almost everyone believed the story without even a blink. The Hollywood way of telling and selling a story was perfect. Even when later journalists and reporters went to Iraq to discover the truth behind it, the doctor being interviewed said: "It was like a Hollywood film. They cried, 'Go, go, go', with guns and blanks and the sound of explosions. They made a show - an action movie like Sylvester Stallone or Jackie Chan, with jumping and shouting, breaking down doors." An Iraqi doctor used Hollywood film to describe a real happening scene, that's a good proof of how deeply rooted this "style" and way of value is among almost everywhere in this planet. And that's exactly where Hollywood's influential power lies in. It's no longer just a wonderland for making big money out of chic-flick movies, or it never was.

Back to WWII, Hollywood already played an important role in the war propaganda as "A strong aspect of American culture then as now was a fascination with celebrities...Hollywood studios also went all-out for the war effort, as studios allowed their major stars to enlist, and also created propaganda films to remind American moviegoers of their heritage. Many of the finest films of the era are about the war, such as Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, and Going My Way, while others, such as Yankee Doodle Dandy, focused on patriotism." (WiKi,United States home front during World War II: Propaganda and Culture).

Movies always tend to be a most direct and involving way to sell s story(Of course that's what movies are supposed to do)and promote certain opinions, and that's why it's also one of Hitler's favourite propaganda tools. Nowadays, as Hollywood basically takes over every big screen all over the world, as a perfect propaganda resource, it cant be underestimated both on and off screen.

Another example is Dalai Lama.He is excellent in using Hollywood influence to emplanting his opinion about Tibet issue into almost the whole western society. He spends a lot of time in Hollywood and make friends with all the celebrities. Then there are movies made, celebrities speaking out, his ideas and opinions were constantly broadcasted by the largest movie making industry in the world.

However, you need to be more careful and stay behind when it comes to using Hollywood power as Hollywood itself is about nothing but high exposure and being scrutinied 24/7. Pentagon was quite low key in Jessica Lynch story, but still didnt make it to the last and the whole thing turned into a ridiculous joke.