2016: Obama's America

Well-done, thought-provoking movie. This film provides insight into Obama's childhood, his influences, his beliefs, and how all of these translate into his plans for America, especially with regard to national security and foreign policy. There's something for everyone in here – Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives, and anyone else. Independents, in particular, will benefit from a deeper understanding of the man they helped to elect to office four years ago. Even better, this movie offers a very insightful analysis of why Obama's words have failed to match his actions. Hats off to Dinesh D'Souza and Gerald Molen for a powerful film!

This is the kind of movie that enrages or excites depending on partisan leanings, as evidenced by the helpful liberal who decided to interrupt by reminding everyone in the theater that it's "propaganda." However, I am neither a Democrat or a Republican, so I feel I have a fairly objective view of this movie.

First of all, it's absolutely fascinating. Obama came out of what seemed like nowhere with incredible charm, but most people don't know much about his life story. This movie describes the type of people and places he grew up in, and interviews experts who have an idea of what kind of thinking drives the 44th President. The subjects covered should be fairly familiar to anyone interested in politics, but the movie explores these a bit more in-depth than the talking heads on cable news, without being histrionic.

Dinesh D'Souza states that we carry elements of the past into the future, but it's also apparent that he carries unspoken assumptions into his work. If you share his assumptions, as I think many Americans do, then you'll probably find Obama's presidency more disturbing, because he doesn't fit neatly within the nationalist and individualist ideology that is typical of U.S. Presidents. D'Souza also appeals to the unconditional support for Israel and nuclear weapons. If you're outside of his assumptions, as I am, then it will be difficult to end up with his conclusions.

While I've never really trusted Obama and still don't, I came out of the film liking him a bit more, which was probably not the intended effect. In any case, it was interesting and I felt it was worth my time watching, just to get a clearer picture of the man in the White House.

That I cannot recall a serious documentary film made about a president who was still in office at the time of the film's release, at least not a film with a wide theatrical release (can we count the propaganda laden Fahrenheit 9/11?), speaks volumes about this film's importance. That no president that I have ever studied in school has been shrouded in so much mystery and controversy speaks volumes about the legitimacy of a documentary investigating who he is and what he has come from. 2016: Obama's America explores the history and influences of our current president Barack Obama, from as much an objective standpoint as I think one could take without simply saying nothing. While lacking the flashiness and polish of a Michael Moore film, director Dinesh D'Souza wisely goes straight for the facts, tossing aside all the propaganda, assumptions, theories and pretty motion graphics of more famous documentarians. How can I say "fact"? How do I know? Because much of the film explores the writings and quotes and interviews from Obama himself. It's straight from the horse's mouth. Much of it is alarming, I don't know how it could be seen any other way by anyone who loves this country. Much of it also puts away petty arguments about things that don't really matter when it's all said and done. D'Souza affirms that Obama was born in Hawaii, which I'm sure will anger some people. But there are bigger issues at stake in this film, which is about our very real state of affairs here in the United States of America. While it does naturally take a partisan stance, it is as objective as documentaries get, and should be seen by all. And if box office numbers mean anything, it is being seen by quite a few (it posted Top Ten numbers for this past weekend, and only projects to grow to more and more theaters). The film's tag-line, "Love him or hate him, you don't know him" could very well be the complete review for this film.

-Thomas Bond, TheFilmDiscussion.com

I was pleasantly surprised to walk into the theater in San Jose, Ca and see it fairly well full. California is, after all, Obama-friendly (let's leave it at that). Imagine, a movie by a scholar with a conservative point of view actually doing well in....California? Shocker! Dinesh D'Souza's movie is excellent--scholarly, hard-hitting but soft around the edges as D'Souza draws personal parallels with Obama's roots and experiences and his.

The movie reminds us, that in life, it is our family, and the people in our life that makes us tick. Obama's speeches and book, "Dreams from My Father" are central to D'Souza's movie. Obama's parents, grandparents, substitute father, mentors, friends, and supporters make Obama what he is today and these relationships guide our President's policies and intentions for our country. The fact is, I really knew very little about WHO Obama was in 2008, but, I must say, I know more now, and I'm learning more every day. The 'apple doesn't fall far from the tree'.

One on one interviews with those who personally know Obama and his family gently help weave the facts which D'Souza presents to the audience while sharing his credible and very well documented themes. Much is added, still, through one on one interviews with experts (Shelby Steele, David Walker, Daniel Pipe, Paul Vitz, and others) who are patriots and fear for our country.

Produced by Gerald R. Molen ("Schindler's List"), D'Souza's movie is artfully done with beautiful, real and surreal camera work, and meaningful graphics. The viewer feels D'Souza's earnest desire for revealing answers to important questions not asked and not answered by 'main stream' media. Voters deserve to consider these answers, especially when electing a leader for our country and our military.

And for those who tend towards a fatalists' attitude about politics and voting, believing that it doesn't matter who our President is, or whether or not our government needs to balance the budget, please consider watching this movie. Personally, I agree with D'Souza. It matters. Know the person you vote for. Do your own homework.

Please, see the movie.

Obama supporters (e.g. the mainstream media) want you to believe that "2016: Obama's America" is a sensationalistic, white supremacist attack on President Barack Hussein Obama. It isn't. "2016" is a fact-based, artistically ambitious documentary, the product of an egghead intellectual, Dinesh D'Souza, who himself is a college president, and who is non-white, Indian-born, the grandson of an anti-white grandfather. D'Souza supports almost every point he makes with original material, including Obama's biography and on screen experts, including Shelby Steele, the eloquent, African American scholar, George Obama, the president's Kenyan half-brother, Kenyan villagers who knew Obama Sr. intimately, and US Comptroller General David Walker.

The film is shot in an artistically ambitious style, with lots of shaky camera work, off-center placement, explanatory animation, and depressing montages of garbage-strewn Kenyan, Indian, and Indonesian slums.

In fact, for many viewers this documentary will be entirely too cerebral and level-headed. This is not Michael Moore. It's not funny, it's not shocking, and it's less manipulative than lots of other election-year material. D'Souza never exploits his subjects with the ruthlessness of a Michael Moore. I didn't laugh, I didn't gasp, and I didn't become outraged. I mostly compared what was being said to publicly available information on the subjects discussed and I found the film – dare one say it – reasonably responsible and informative. In fact, the film's one mistake may be that it does not talk down to viewers enough. Anti- colonial theory and action will be new to many viewers. Many will simply not know who Frantz Fanon is, for example, or even Shelby Steele. These scholars could have been introduced to the viewer more slowly, carefully, and thoroughly.

Dinesh D'Souza was born in India, famous as the "Jewel in the Crown" of the British Empire. India was a hotbed of anti-colonial theorizing and activity. D'Souza inherited this from his grandfather. As such, he sees Barack Hussein Obama, Jr., through the lens of anti-colonialism. D'Souza supports this view of Obama with quotes from Obama's own work, interviews with people who know the Obama family, and scholars like Paul Kengor who has researched Obama's relationship with Frank Marshall Davis.

D'Souza argues, using Obama's own words from his memoirs, that Obama wants to fulfill his father's dream of anti-colonial political and economic action. Rich, white, Western people need to be shaken down in order to even the score with poor people of color living in formerly colonized countries like Kenya and Indonesia, and poor, exploited people of color living in Western countries.

Interestingly, the lack of economic soundness of this grudge-and-race- based politics is argued by George Obama, the president's half-brother. George makes a very interesting observation. Compare the "Asian tiger" countries to formerly colonized countries in Africa. South Korea used to be at the same economic level as Kenya. South Korea has been able to advance in a way that Kenya has not. Why is that, George asks? The unstated but implied answer: not just colonization is to blame for the poverty of some formerly colonized countries. Rather, cultural and economic differences also play a role. Rather than pursuing the kind of race-and-grudge based politics and economics that have destroyed Mugabe's Zimbabwe, exploited people could benefit from learning from countries like South Korea.

The documentary veers into speculation toward the end, stating that President Obama wants to see the US in the debt crisis it faces now. That's the film's most outrageous speculation. As the Comptroller General explains, the debt crisis is very real. That Obama desires the debt crisis is mere speculation. The film also criticizes Obama for reducing nuclear warheads and NASA. Again, that Obama has taken these steps is fact. His motivation for doing so, as presented in the film, is mere speculation.