I liked the film by Dinesh D'Souza, "America: Imagine the World Without Her." The core of the film is the analysis of a number of criticisms leveled against America. The movie starts out asking what the world would be like without America. A scene from the American Revolution is enacted where George Washington is killed by a sniper. Next, a number of American icons are shown dissolving. Then we are introduced to a lady who explains why she wished America never came into existence. We get to see her and hear her explanation on why America is terrible.
We do not see a portrayal of what the world would be like without America. In this sense, the packaging for the movie was flawed. We hear a number of people present different arguments for America having a bad effect on world history. These are real people who think the world would be better off if America did not exist.
The narrator, Dinesh D'Souza, then presents the complaints in a list and begins addressing the complaints. I have heard many of these complaints before, since America's critics are relentless. But I have not seen a rebuttal of these complaints. There are numerous scenes enacted, so this is not just D'Souza as a talking head. I liked seeing a coherent rebuttal of these tiresome complaints about the imperfections of the people who built this nation. There are no perfect people.
It was very revealing to learn of the impact of Saul Alinsky on both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. I did not know that Hillary Clinton wrote her senior thesis on Saul Alinsky. Here's a bit from Wikipedia on the thesis:
"The thesis offered a critique of Alinsky's methods as largely
ineffective, all the while describing Alinsky's personality as
appealing."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillary_Rodham_senior_thesis
The movie was encouraging when providing a rebuttal to many criticisms of America, and very revealing of the influences upon leaders like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. It is true, by the way, that Saul Alinsky truly did dedicate his book, "Rules for Radicals," to Lucifer. I checked out that fact and can confirm it.
You do leave the film wondering why they said to imagine the world without America, and then did not pursue that line of thought. I thought that premise was distracting. Then I thought about how many people interviewed expressed the desire that America not exist. There are people working to tear down America. We see and hear a few in this film. I can see the point being stressed by the producers, but the packaging of the film is still a bit distracting.
Overall, it was a good film. I was glad I went to see it.
Robert
