White House Down - The Film Review and Call to Action

White House Down (2013) is a superbly entertaining thriller. It kept me glued to my seat, I actually teared up at moments, and the script tied everything up in tight Hollywood style. Viewers cannot leave this film bored. But, the film shows just how dangerous the West's propagandist film industry has become. We need to take some of the actions described at the end of this article.

Roland Emmerich's drama comes when right-wing 'white nationalist' racists take over the White House because the President (Jamie Foxx) has made a peace deal with the Muslim nations. So the liberal President and the peace-loving Muslims are the heroes. And the terrorists are white racist groups who fear Islam for no good reason at all. We cannot simply become numb to this level of propaganda and let it pass.

During the Cold War western films clearly identified the enemy. James Bond repeatedly fought the Soviet Union on behalf of the British. The Manchurian Candidate (1962) exposed the potential of Asian Communist infiltration of western governments. I Married a Communist (aka The Woman On Pier 13, 1949) is typical of anti-communist messages that saturated noir films. During the Cold War evil film characters had Russian accents. The free world had an enemy and were not afraid to portray them as such.

Notice that today's films escape into comic book battles with fantasy terrorists such as Spider-Man's Green Goblin or imagine fantastic viruses taking over England as in 28-Days Later (2002). I do not wish to be a killjoy. I grew up with Batman fighting the Riddler and I love horror films. But our total evasion of identifying the enemy during a time of war is a sign of a dangerous weakness that requires analysis and comment.

White House Down goes beyond evasion, it is pure propaganda. Timothy McVeigh, in 1995, was the last right-wing person to commit a terrorist act in America. Since then tens of thousands of Muslims have committed acts of terror – including an attempt at destroying the White House, on 9/11/01. As the public knows who does terrorism, film viewers must strain to take the plot of White House Down seriously. The film makers have traded viewer engagement (and, thus, profit) for pure propaganda.

We need to take action. Action films get us to root for the good guys and wish death upon the bad guys. As the villains in White House Down are right-wing Islamophobes, the film trains the people to target you, dear reader, as a violent threat. And in depicting Islam as only wanting peace, the film provides cover to terrorists. With White House Down, the film industry has become complicit in covering for terrorists and getting people to root for your death.

We need viewing parties that give cult status to the few films that do depict Islam as the enemy. The Siege (1998) shows the end of civil liberties brought on by Islamic terror. Not Without My Daughter (1991) tells a true story of a nightmare marriage to a Muslim man in Iran. And, of course, South Park's hilarious Team America (2004), starring puppets, features Muslim terrorists. Right-leaning groups hosting public screenings of such films, while issuing press releases explaining our grievances, would stir public discussion.

Small groups of activists can also protest films, such as White House Down, while they are still in theatres in order to get people talking about Hollywood's cowering to Islam and production of purely propagandist films. Right-leaning political parties hosting film analysis events, with an academic air, would help contrast our public image and reality. Commissioning a study comparing rates of realistic enemy portrayals during the Cold War and now would also help. And as individuals we can also write and popularize articles such as this one whenever films besmirch us.

In summary, White House Down was an overt attempt at getting the public to love Islam and fear you. The title must become synonymous with leftist propaganda. We must engage in culturist activism so that citizens come to recognize the propagandistic nature of 'White House Down' films.