Truth In Fiction

Photo by Myke Simon on Unsplash

The Awakening is a funny thing. For most, it starts with noticing just one or two things that are off in the world and not being satisfied with the surface-level explanations given. Then you notice another thing. Then another. And another. Then you realize that so many of these seemingly disparate things are actually connected. Before you know it, the way you look at the world has been turned on its head and you see everything with new eyes.

No matter which particular issue begins an individual’s awakening, at some point - sooner usually rather than later - we each notice the pervasiveness of propaganda in every sector of society. Sometimes it is even the propaganda itself that begins the awakening process. When something that was previously socially acceptable suddenly, seemingly overnight, becomes off limits. Or when someone asks what he or she thought to be a benign, reasonable question only to be viciously attacked for it. These are the moments when the propaganda backfires and instead of triggering shame and silence - as it was meant to - it triggers curiosity and a desire to take a closer look.

Regardless of whether noticing the propaganda was the starting point of an awakening journey or the byproduct of it, the propaganda itself is one of those things we start to look at with new eyes. At first, we look at it with anger. As we start to notice it everywhere we get mad. Mad at ourselves for not seeing it before. Mad at those around us for not seeing it now. Mad at those who disseminate it in order to manipulate the masses. But for many of us, as time goes on, that anger changes. After all, constant rage is unsustainable. And when the rage ebbs we can adjust our view of the propaganda once again. Often this new view is more analytical in nature. We want to understand not only how the propaganda itself works, but also the thought process and purpose behind it. We study it and ask questions about it in an attempt to better know our Enemy’s mind.

This analysis isn’t even something we necessarily do in any formal way. Most are not going out of their way to gather up samples of propaganda to study. Instead, they learn to spot it in their everyday lives, and rather than just blindly consuming it or rolling their eyes and ignoring it, as they may have done before, they take a mental note. This is what it means to wake up. It’s not which specific things you figured out are lies or becoming a deep-diving researcher. To be Awake is to be people who go through life with active, questioning minds, attempting to understand the world for ourselves rather than passively letting some so-called authority figure dictate our understanding to us.

One such place where we encounter propaganda in our daily lives is in the Hollywood productions we consume for entertainment. Most of us have long since realized that Hollywood’s main purpose is not to entertain us (though there is a bread and circuses element to it), but to propagandize us. Once we figured that out, we view film and television differently. More critically. We look for the propaganda and try to figure out what its purpose may be. But as we watch movies and TV shows with an eye to spot the manipulations and subversions, we sometimes come up against a conundrum, because sometimes a piece of entertainment actually manages to project a fair amount of truth.

Of course, there are different types of truth. There are allegorical truths. Stories that have little or no basis in reality as we know it, but somehow, in their often fantastical settings, they reflect truth and reality more clearly than many stories set entirely in the “real world.” The Matrix would be a good example of a film with allegorical truths.

Then there are historical films and shows that purport to tell the true stories of real people or events from either the distant or recent past. Oftentimes, these films are used, sometimes subtly and sometimes not-so-subtly, to rewrite history or to use historical events to manipulate people’s perceptions of current events. But occasionally a movie or a show comes along that truly does attempt to portray the events of history with a level of fidelity.

Then there are the films and TV shows that portray fictionalized versions of part of the real world. Movies like Zoolander, Josie and the Pussycats, or Tropic Thunder. TV shows like VEEP, Parks and Recreation, or Better Off Ted. These shows take place in niche areas of society - whether that be various parts of the entertainment industry, the world of politics and government, the corporate world, etc. - and often reveal truths about that area of society. Truths that, in real life, we’re not supposed to notice or, at the very least, not supposed to worry about.

Whatever form the truth takes, when it is revealed in a Hollywood film or show, there is a question we find ourselves asking: how did the creators get away with that?

The answers that we come up with vary. Some think this is part of the Satanic practices of the elites. They must disclose what they do (no matter if this disclosure occurs under the veil of “fiction”) in order to get our “consent.” Others believe that by putting what [they] are actually doing into story form then they are able to get people to write off the so-called conspiracy theorists. “It’s ridiculous to think the entertainment industry and governments are in cahoots to brainwash people, MKUltra style. Those are the plots of Josie and the Pussycats and Zoolander.” Still others, with a more optimistic perspective, think these films and shows could be the works of genuinely earnest people, in Hollywood, who have figured out how to covertly work the system to get good stories, filled with truths, made.

All of these theories could be plausible. Personally, I think the truth could be a bit of each of them. I think sometimes we get so caught up in trying to figure out the motivations of the so-called elites that we forget that people are not cartoon villains; they can have multiple motivations and goals for doing things.

But since we’re discussing theories as to why Hollywood sometimes puts the truth out in plain sight, I have a couple of my own to add to the fray.

For my first theory, I want to focus specifically on that third type of truth, which I mentioned above: the shows and movies that portray fictional versions of real life. And not just any areas of reality, but the areas that hold many of the levers of power in society. Whether that be cultural levers — as with Zoolander, Josie and the Pussycats, and Tropic Thunder, which inhabit the worlds of fashion, music, and the film industry — or political and governmental levers, as with VEEP and Parks and Recreation. Or the levers held by giant corporations, as with Better Off Ted.

You may have noted that the films and shows I just listed are all satires and comedies. Of course, there are plenty of other examples that fall into this category that are not comedies. House of Cards, could be an example. However, I think the comedies and satires illustrate a truism: it is easier to laugh at yourself when you are winning.

You see, when these movies and shows were made, Hollywood firmly had the Culture in hand. It was deftly herding society in exactly the direction it wanted us to go. It could afford to laugh at itself (and maybe also laugh at us a little bit for being so easy to manipulate). And because Hollywood was winning, and knew it, it didn’t sting so much when we laughed at it. As the saying goes, we weren’t laughing at Hollywood, we were laughing with it. They thought there was no risk in making movies that mocked themselves while also pulling back the curtain to show us what’s really going on in the world.

But things have shifted. Today, we, the people whose values and culture Hollywood has spent decades trying to stamp out, are now the ones winning. One way to tell we are winning is because now we are the ones who are ok with poking fun at ourselves. Of course, there are those in our movement who still take themselves far too seriously to ever laugh at themselves or their cause. But on the whole, there is a levity within the circles we now call MAGA that didn’t exist a decade ago. We can laugh at ourselves; we can even laugh along when the so-called elites make a rare, yet genuinely funny, joke at our expense. Even when we don’t laugh at those jokes, they no longer sting in the way they once did.

On the other hand, Hollywood and the other entertainment industries are not laughing at themselves so much anymore. On the contrary, they seem to be taking themselves more and more seriously by the day. It is now rare to see Hollywood poking fun at itself or at the other industries that have held the reins of power for who knows how long. I believe this is because they are not winning anymore. In fact, they’re losing.

They’re losing the Culture War. They’re losing the Info War. And they’re losing the Political War. When you’re losing, and your very way of life is on the line, suddenly it’s not so fun to laugh at yourself or be laughed at by those who are beating you.

Of course, outside of the niche of films and shows that mock powerful industries, this theory may not hold much water, so I have a second theory on why truth is imbued into entertainment. It goes back to the idea of Hollywood’s main purpose being to propagandize us and subvert the culture.

Often, in this community, we find ourselves believing, either consciously or unconsciously, that because [they] lie about everything then everything must be a lie. But that is not the case. You see, it is easier to get people to swallow lies when those lies are surrounded by truth. This could be because the undiscerning person fails to spot the unsavory elements hidden amongst the truth. Or it could be because the more discerning person does recognize those unsavory elements and chooses to put up with them rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Either way, the presence of truth often keeps us comfortable enough that we stick around and listen to the lies. And if we’re not careful, the longer we do that the more desensitized to the subversions we become. The best-case scenario is that desensitization leads us to a place of apathy. Worst case scenario, we start believing those lies, accepting the subversions.

I believe that in order for a story to be considered enjoyable to large numbers of people, it must contain truth. It cannot be all lies. All subversion. There may be some in society - certain especially degenerate groups and subcultures - that are drawn to pure lies and subversion, but those are the minority and not really the sorts of people that Hollywood aims to capture. Hollywood aims to appeal to the majority, because that is the most efficient way to shift the Culture.

Discerning and undiscerning viewers alike, we are all more accepting of lies and subversions when they are wrapped in a comfortable blanket truth. This community loves The Matrix (I even wrote a piece on it, a while back), because of all the allegorical truths it presents. Yet the heroes of that story treat the majority of humanity - victims from birth trapped within the Matrix - as disposable NPCs. They go around killing anyone and everyone who gets in their way without a second thought. This is excused with a line about how the Agents of the Matrix can take over the virtual body of any person trapped in the Matrix. Yet, no attempts are even made to avoid or minimize collateral damage. Kill the NPCs because they could become a threat. Lots of Truth laced with an incredible devaluing of human life.

Josie and the Pussycats tells us how the music industry is used to brainwash teenagers. It reveals the consumerist agenda. It shows the partnership between the government and “private” companies to manipulate and control the American people. It shows how the Global governments all know about this and want in on it. It shows how when one of [their] schemes is revealed they pick a few of their own to be fall guys to appease those who demand justice. So much truth. And yet, the film is laced with sexual innuendo. Our three heroines all dress provocatively with the most innocent, naive, and sweet of the three dressing the most provocatively. For all the truths it tells, it also seeks to subvert the culture by pushing a hyper-sexualized agenda on its viewers.

The morning after the 2016 election, I woke up and grabbed my phone to see who won and was elated to see that it was Trump. After celebrating and getting past that initial wave of joy and relief, my next thought was, “Film and television are going to suck.” I wasn’t even truly awake at this point in time, but I was awake enough to know that Hollywood was going to punish us for voting for Trump. Hollywood’s job is to “educate” (read: brainwash) us and it failed. I knew this meant that we were in for years of lectures from almost every TV show and movie that would be made while Trump was in office.

Sure enough, just under a year later, TV shows started to go downhill, substituting stories laced with propaganda for propaganda laced with stories. Movies took a bit more time, to start being truly terrible. After all, they are bigger and more time-consuming projects, so it takes longer to get the ball rolling, but they followed suit as soon as they were able.

Of course, it has always been Hollywood’s intent to ramp up agendas to the point we are at today. They have been building up to this for decades.

I noticed in the early 2010s that PG-13 comedies had all but disappeared. While there have always been PG-13 films that were inappropriately labeled as such, and were far from appropriate for the teen audience they targeted, many were the sorts of movies that families with older children could enjoy together or even that parents would be comfortable letting their teens see in theaters, unsupervised. However, slowly, but surely, those sorts of movies seemed to have died out, being replaced with raunchy R-rated comedies in the vein of The Hangover and Bridesmaids. Even network TV shows, which are ostensibly constrained by the FCC, have become increasingly raunchy and promiscuous.

Brokeback Mountain came out in 2005 as a way to test the cultural waters, regarding homosexuality. After the backlash, Hollywood pulled back, for a time, but never to the point we were at prior to Brokeback Mountain. From then on there was an increased presence of LGBT characters in film and television. The sassy gay friend in every ABC or CW show. The conniving, but oppressed, gay man in Downton Abbey and every other historical film or show. The female character, in virtually every television series, who “experimented” with women in college. The transgender housekeeper in Elementary. The characters who were not originally LGBT, but who were later changed, either via notice from their creators outside of the films themselves, or in reboots of the films. Dumbledore in the Harry Potter franchise and LeFeu in the 2017 live-action remake of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, serve as a couple of examples of this LGBT retroactive continuity. 

For as long as I can remember, almost any time politics comes up in a TV show or a movie, a negative comment must be made about Republicans (keep in mind that, even though the GOP is part of the Uniparty, when Hollywood takes a dig at Republicans it is meant to be a dig at anyone with anything approaching Conservative values). If characters from a “sophisticated” part of the country visit the South or the countryside, the locals are portrayed as incompetent, or bigoted, or uneducated, or cult members, or all of the above.

Christianity has consistently either been ignored (with atheism being more or less the default), watered down, or demonized. When a character - at least a character that we’re supposed to like - does have a faith it is rarely any form of Christianity, instead typically leaning towards Eastern-influenced spirituality or something akin to Universalism. Characters who are Christian are typically shown in a bad light. And on the rare occasion that a Christian character is portrayed positively, that character rarely lives out his or her faith in any meaningful way. If there wasn’t that occasional episode here or there where he or she causally mentioned being a Christian, then you would never know he or she had a faith based on the lifestyles and values exhibited in every other episode.

Hollywood’s push to change the culture is not a new thing. It didn’t start when Trump came into office. It didn’t start in just the last decade or two. It’s been happening probably since Hollywood's inception. Little by little, they have added more violence, more gore, more promiscuity, more LGBT characters, more snipes at the “uneducated,” more comments demonizing Conservatives, more subversion of Christianity, more glorification of atheism and spirituality, more gender division, more racial division, etc. Etc. Etc.

Yes, the subversion of our culture and values has been happening, little by little, for years. And with each year, they push a little bit further. We would have eventually got to the point we are at now, but I believe it would have taken a bit longer and many viewers would not have even noticed it had happened. But when Trump won in 2016, they went from inching forward little by little - slowly boiling the frog - and instead put the pedal to the floor.

Trump’s win showed Hollywood that it didn’t have quite the grasp on the American mind that it thought it had, so, they panicked. They tossed out good storytelling that appealed to core truths and brought in heavy-handed preaching. Unveiled propaganda.

The bulk of Hollywood productions are now so bad that even people who are sympathetic towards the agendas Hollywood pushes recognize that there is something wrong. Something has changed. They may not be willing to recognize that the core reason film and television have gone downhill revolves around the increase of the very propaganda they agree with, instead pointing at other issues (which often are good points, but don’t get to the root), but at least they are willing to acknowledge that what comes out of Hollywood today is, at best, mediocre.

Hollywood making this error of putting story and truth on the back-burner is good news for us, in the Culture War. As I mentioned near the beginning of this article, the propaganda is backfiring. In many cases, it is waking people up, as they realize there is an active, coordinated agenda at play. In other cases, it’s simply so lacking in entertainment value that many people are consuming it less. And if they’re consuming it less, then they’re not being as influenced by it.

For whatever reason, or combination of reasons, Hollywood used to excel at balancing the truth with propaganda. But they have lost that skill and, in doing so, they have lost their advantage in the Culture War. Now it is up to us to take advantage of their misstep.