America: Imagine the World Without Her

Dinesh D'Souza's "America" sets out to disprove the view that America is the source of evil in the world, and he at least succeeds in clarifying the debate. What does it mean to say America is good or bad? Is anybody or anything all good or all bad? D'Souza definitely makes a case against the simplistic view that America is all bad.

One of his first targets is author Howard Zinn whose "People's History of the United States" is here characterized as an exercise in cherry-picking. For example, it is debatable to argue that the actions of Christopher Columbus and the Spanish conquistadors reflect on the reputation of the United States of America when they weren't even Americans. As a tonic to Zinn's view of America, D'Souza offers Alexis De Tocqueville's "Democracy in America," which takes a more rounded view of America both good and bad, coming out with a qualified thumbs up.

The way the world has always worked, says D'Souza, is conquest and imperialism; yet, if anything, America has been less inclined to follow the path of conquest and imperialism than the rest of the world. America has set itself a higher ideal, explicitly declaring that things should be different. Americans live up to that ideal as often and perhaps more often than they don't.

For example, D'Souza, who narrates the movie from beginning to end, says that every other continent had slavery before America (by which he always means the U.S.) existed. What is unique about America is that Americans held the ideal that all men are created equal and many Americans realized that it conflicted with the reality of slavery; so America fought a war with itself to free the slaves. Nitpickers will point out that this was not the only reason for the Civil War, but it was the reason for so many who fought that it determined that one outcome would be the abolition of slavery.

After World War II, the most powerful country left standing was the United States. While it arguably interfered in the affairs of other countries, it did not conquer them (as did other countries such as the Soviet Union). The United States invested tremendous resources in the Viet Nam War, but while this was arguably a wrong-headed endeavor, it was never the intention of the U.S. to conquer Viet Nam—just as it was never the intention of recent administrations to conquer Iraq; eventually letting them determine their own course was always in the plan. This is arguably a bad way to go about things from America's own point of view: why does this country keep liberating other countries—at great cost in blood and treasure—only to set them free? This policy works wonderfully on occasion (see Germany and Japan) but it also has been a terrible waste in some other cases. D'Souza does spend a good deal of the movie dealing with the charge that America conquered land from Native Americans and Mexico. Again, I think he has reset the terms for further debate more than demolished his opposition.

In his defense of capitalism and, more properly, the free market, D'Souza is most successful. He shows how the free market works when it is allowed to work, giving America the highest standard of living in world history. When the system is perverted, however, D'Souza does not turn a blind eye. The policies of the administration of President Barack Obama come in for a drubbing here. D'Souza already looked at the president's legacy at much greater length in his previous movie, "2016." Here he makes a memorable indictment of the motives behind the health care legislation known as Obamacare when he says that Obama made people think that it is he and the American people against the insurance companies, when it is really he and the insurance companies against the American people. (Who benefits, after all, when people are forced by law to buy health insurance?)

The movie also reenacts some historical events and portrays numerous historical figures both famous and less well-known. Don Taylor is impressive as Abraham Lincoln—better than many other Lincoln portrayers in the scores of dramas and documentaries that have featured the president. Other reenactors are good as well, particularly Janitta Swain as African-American businesswoman Madame C. J. Walker. Josh Bonzie is a little weak as Frederick Douglass, and I am afraid that his obvious wig does not help, though that is more the fault of the make up and hair department. The real Douglass had what later would be compared to an Afro, but he didn't look quite so much like Madame Pompadour as he does here.

And how could I forget the rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by Madison Rising. (See their rendition without seeing the movie at www.madisonrising.com.) Their knock-out rock version of the national anthem kept the audience in the theater during the closing credits (even if we weren't quite sure whether or not to stay in our seats).

Interviews are thought-provoking. Unrevealed insights into American history gives significant context to our present day. Had no idea that there were so many black slave owners in the 1800's. Also, had no idea the first female millionaire in America was a black woman. I like how both sides of the coin are interviewed, not just one side to fit a political agenda. However, I thought covering the NSA was a bit out of place and didn't fit in well. I also thought more time could have been spent on our present administration. Regardless of your political affiliation, put your political ideology aside for a day and take a deeper look in to what you believe and how you believed it.

Miguel

Well, now we know the politics, unbalanced viewpoints and shamefully biased tendencies of the critics... thereby discrediting every dang one of them who voted ridiculously low on this movie. Out of nearly 40+ movies currently out in theaters, this movie has THE (let me repeat: THE lowest average Meta Score rating from the critics. Think of how many movies can be horrible, outright poorly made out of over 40, and this one is still rated the lowest, at the very bottom. It is a good documentary at it's worst; one that lists truths after truths -that records do not deny. But the left chooses to overlook this for the sake of their own genocide agenda to discredit this nation's history and those who built it, and yet, to these critics, it's the worst movie out of over 40 listed and currently in theaters. Anti-American, biased fools, in a business where you are expected to be neutral and unbiased. You're a disgrace to your position in the industry. Your name is now in print for everyone to discredit you.

Dinesh D'Souza hit another homerun with his new political documentary America. Within the solitude of an empty theater I watched D'Souza's presentation as he knocked down the walls of revisionist history which is the currency of so many who lean to the left. D'Souza challenges the audience to understand the consequences if certain historical events had moved in another direction. This is exemplified by the British winning the Revolutionary War and Germany developing nuclear weapons before America obtained them. Prevailing teachings on slavery are expanded setting aside numerous untruths utilized by those who sell racism for a living. Acknowledging that America's westward movement was done by conquest he displays how its former inhabitants accrued their lands in a similar fashion. America provides a glimpse of many lives that became fruitful by hard work and perseverance as opposed to the entitlement mentality which is prevalent throughout the country. President Lincoln is held in high regard for successfully managing a war that changed the face and texture of this nation. As a leader facing a divided country the question of slavery was finally put to rest under his tutelage. Lincoln is portrayed as person who mends political fences as opposed to President Obama whose actions are antithetically the opposite. Interviews with those who overcame extreme adversity flesh out the reasons why so many risk so much to cross our borders. Especially noteworthy was D'Souza's ability to put a face on those who are affected by Obama's irrational policies. A point is a made noting the substance of current legislative efforts is a fraudulent attempt to undermine every institution, industry and tradition which has brought strength to this nation. D'Souza is intent on telling a story how progressives destroy instead of build leaving conservatives to take the blame when the worst possible outcomes occur. America raises the bar on political documentaries by presenting complex subject matter in a comprehensible format. D'Souza has brought America home. This movie will change the way you think about this nation and yourself. A must see. Mark Davis MD, President of Davis Writing Services.

I saw this documentary film two days ago thinking it would be a nice start to the July 4th weekend. I was very pleased with the way Dinesh organized the film and structured it in a way that was entertaining and informative. Even though I consider myself to be fairly well-read on US History, I learned some things from this film.

It was nice to see that at least some people in this country are not afraid to speak their minds about history and take controversial issues head-on. This direct approach is something you rarely see in true propaganda films, which happen to be mostly revisionist and slightly biased. Dinesh handles some weighty issues with class and an obviously insightful, organized approach.

The film was very well done and kept a nice flow throughout. There was nice mix of documentary interviews/narrative with more movie-like animation and computer-generated visuals. There was some humor and some drama interspersed.

This is something every American should watch.