Robert Jensen Movies
In a time when the delicate balance between democracy, capitalism, and fascism is constantly shifting, filmmaker Christine Rose explores the history making events that help to shape our future while exploring such issues as courage, fear, propaganda, and rhetoric. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Michael Parenti, Howard Zinn, (more)
- 2004
- NR
Did the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, allow certain Republican leaders to put policies and legislation into effect that they knew would be rejected by their colleagues and constituents at nearly any other time? That's the question posed by this documentary, which offers a detailed look at the thoughts and deeds of a number of figures close to the George W. Bush administration. During Ronald Reagan's presidency, a number of neo-conservative theorists proposed that the United States should abandon its support of certain international treaties, take a more aggressive approach in taking military action against nations deemed uncooperative with U.S. interests, enact legislation that would curtail civil liberties at home, and increase military budgets by a massive margin. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and others were able to bring about these changes, either in whole or in part. But was all of this in the best interests of the American public, has the risk of terrorist attacks truly been curtailed, and what will the long-term effects of these actions be? Narrated by Julian Bond, Hijacking Catastrophe: 9/11, Fear and the Selling of American Empire features interviews with Norman Mailer, Noam Chomsky, Scott Ritter, Lt. Col. Karen Kwiatowski, William Hartung, and Jody Williams. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Julian Bond
- 2003
American media coverage of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine goes under the microscope in this activist documentary. In Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land: American Media and the Subversion of Peace, filmmakers Bathsheba Ratzkoff and Sut Jhally use newsreel footage from a variety of American broadcast sources to illustrate their contention that the corporations who control American media act in collusion with Israel to present an image that is biased against the Palestinian cause, through use of certain terminology (Palestinian violence is usually described as an "attack" against Israelis, while Israeli violence is categorized as "retaliation"), by giving a incomplete picture of events in the Middle East, and by ignoring well-documented incidents of Israeli aggression against Palestine. Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land: American Media and the Subversion of Peace includes interviews with Noam Chomsky, Robert Fisk, Seth Ackerman, and Hana Ashrawi. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
