Richard Roeper: The fears and loathing in ‘2016: Obama’s America’

[highplainsdem]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/roeper/14831333-452/the-fears-and-loathing-in-2016-obamas-america.html

Despite D’Souza’s hokey re-enactments and a heavy-handed and often desultory tone, “2016” has become a surprise success story, expanding from a single theater in Houston to 1,747 screens and taking in more than $18.3 million. (Among the backers of the $2.5 million movie: Joe Ricketts, who contributed $125,000 to the marketing campaign.)

The success comes despite mostly scathing reviews from that left-leaning, lamestream liberal media and fact-checked articles that cast serious doubts about some of the film’s claims. (Before we proceed: yes, I have criticized Michael Moore for the grandstanding, time-shifting, sometimes fact-challenged theatrics in his films.) As the Associated Press has pointed out, D’Souza talks about Obama returning a bust of Winston Churchill to the British as if it were an act of disrespect to our ally, even though the bust was on loan to the Bush administration and was scheduled to be returned. The film also faults Obama for the escalation of the national debt (certainly true) but fails to mention the Bush administration’s role in that escalation; claims Obama is sympathetic to jihadists in Pakistan and Afghanistan but never mentions the killing of bin Laden, and paints slanted, incomplete pictures of Obama’s views on the Falklands and Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

-snip-

At times “2016” plays like a parody of an anti-Obama film. Ominous music, visuals of storm clouds gathering, a map showing the Middle East becoming “The United States of Islam,” split-screen images of the White House and the shack in Nairobi that houses Obama’s half-brother.

-snip-

Despite the unsophisticated production values, wild leaps of logic and speculative psychoanalysis, “2016: Obama’s America” is clearly succeeding at reaching an audience desirous of having its worst suspicions about Obama confirmed. If you really believe every ounce of this film, you must be getting ready to pack your bags and exit this country if the unthinkable happens and a duped electorate votes to retain the president and accelerate the destruction of America.

Emphasis added.

It would be nice if everyone who believed that stupid film would leave the country.

OTOH, I can't imagine another country welcoming them...

[Tom Ripley]

1. D’Souza has not progressed beyond his undergraduate days...

spent earning a BA in English during the 80s.
His critical theory classes are why he spends so much time obsessing over the difference between "from" and "of"
and his post-colonial lit classes are responsible for his anti-anti-colonialist theme.

[pscot]

2. Eight bucks at the Regal

with the senior discount. It's probably been seen by a couple million people. Sadly, it's gonna make that asshole Dinesh rich.

[BlueStater]

3. Still waiting for these bigmouths to actually point out the "fact-challenged theatrics"...

...in Moore's films.