Right-wing Goes After John Cusack

The extreme right is not happy about John Cusack's new film, War Inc.. With the helpful panning of the corporate press as proof - the same corporate press that sold us the Iraq war to begin with - the right-wing is trying make the film seem to be a total flop, despite the grassroots success that it actually is.

Take this fine example of right-wing propaganda, titled idiotically "Cusack: Laugh While Bush Ideology Destroys America:"

Leftist actor John Cusack explained his new anti-war comedy (read: the next box office flop) this way: "The ideology behind this war is so radical and it's so destroying the country that I think a somber serious take on it would just add to the sense of depression and inevitable doom that this administration has unleashed on the country."

Cusack added War Inc. was Bush-inspired: "And the argument of the Bush administration is that there's nothing, no function of state, there's no national interest that is not a corporate interest. Everything is to be privatized, everything is to be -- the core function of government is to create the optimal conditions for a feeding frenzy."

Leave it to Tim Graham, the Director of Media Analysis for the Media Research Center, to misrepresent political satire as slap-stick-comedy and Cusack's accurate criticism of privatized war as somehow inaccurate because of the comedy-routine meme.

Satire, my dear Mr. Graham, is ridicule, not comedy. It is the examination of difficult topics through a more comfortable lens, that of irony. Satire unnerves, it does not simply entertain. In short, satire is condemnation, not a barrel of laughs.

But really, the most important thing you need to know about the Media Research Center, for whom Graham works, is that it is entirely a right-wing propaganda group, funded by corporatists - the very people War Inc. satirizes.

Consider the MRC's rather interesting mission, something they are proud of too:

"[to]provide immediate exposure of liberal media bias, insightful analysis, constructive criticism and timely corrections to news media reporting."

Does that not entirely prove everything I have just stated? No? Well maybe I should add a bit more about who throws money at the MRC.

Did you know that the MRC is founded and funded by Brent Bozell, the wealthy NeoCon who helped bankroll the 2004 smears on John Kerry, painting a war veteran as a traitor? Nice, eh? No wonder Tim Graham is praying with this pen that War Inc., does flop, he gets paid to echo George W. Bush.

Onwards Corporate Soldiers

Wait, but the best is yet to come. Unhinged right-wing extremist David Horowitz and his FrontPage rag claim that Cusack's war profiteers are imaginary and that he is insulting heroes, real and fluffy ones too:

From the safety of his stateside home, actor John Cusack has produced, co-written and stars in a movie, "War, Inc.," deriding firms like Blackwater, whose employees, at great personal risk, provide a service to their country in time of war. Since they make money, he brands them "war profiteers" who deserve to be treated as criminals.

--snip--

The film -- which Cusack wrote after the brutal murders of military contractors in Fallujah inspired him to insult them -- is about a corporation that destroys a fictional country in a privately-run war, then rebuilds it, even gluing back limbs on people after it has blown them off.

The whole point is supposed to be that war is nothing but a corrupt profit-making scheme. Forget al Qaeda's numerous promises -- and efforts -- to kill millions of Americans. Forget 9/11. And while you're at it, forget World War II, during which numerous companies -- including arch-villains like Hershey's chocolates -- provided wartime goods and got paid for same. For Cusack, military conflict is but "a protectionist racket for the government's favorite corporations to make money off the war."

Wow, you mean Blackwater's crimes are all imaginary and their profits too? I will get to that glue-sniffing induced hallucination in a moment. Let's first get something straight: the only people forced into a war zone at "great personal risk" are our soldiers, who are paid ten times less than Blackwater and other mercenary groups.

Now, as for what happened in Fallujah, FrontPage rag needs to get its facts straight. The Blackwater employees who lost their lives in Fellujah, died because of Blackwater's interest in profit over safety, in contracts over security, in everything but the actual mission. In other words Blackwater was responsible for the deaths of their employees. Here are just two snips from the Congressional report on the matter:

• Prior to the Blackwater team's departure, two of the six members of the team were cut from the mission, depriving both security vehicles of a rear gunner. These personnel were removed from the mission to perform administrative duties at the Blackwater operations center.

• Blackwater had a contract dispute with a Kuwaiti company, Regency Hotel & Hospitality, over the acquisition of armored vehicles for the Blackwater team. Blackwater officials instructed its employees to "string these guys along and run this ... thing into the ground" because "if we stalled long enough they (Regency) would have no choice but to buy us armored cars, or they would default on the contract," in which case the contractor who hired Regency "might go directly to Blackwater for security." According to a Blackwater employee, Blackwater's contract "paid for armor vehicles," but "management in North Carolina made the decision to go with soft skin due to the cost."

Cusack is not insulting the 4 people who died. He is criticizing - and rightfully so - the company that sent them to their deaths, Blackwater.

But let me see if I really get the gist of FrontPage's claim, namely, that Blackwater is a benevolent American institution making patriotic sacrifices for the greater good (can I offer you fries with this bullshit?):

1. So smuggling weapons into Iraq, which landed in the hands of "terrorists" is okay?
2. So the murder of 14 Iraqi civilians in cold-blood and without provocation is okay?
3. So using chemical weapons on US soldiers and Iraqis just to clear traffic is okay?

I am not going to spend time documenting here all of Blackwater's crimes or their parasitically earned profits. I don't need to. Jeremey Scahill has already accomplished this unpleasant task.

These are just two examples of the right-wing anti-Cusack propaganda to emerge in the last few days. The question, however, is not why these people are hoping and praying you won't see the film. The answer to that is rather obvious. No, the real question is what will you do to counter their offensive? What will you do to ensure that they don't silence another courageous voice?

This is what you will do

This weekend, War Inc., opens up in other cities in broader distribution as a result of the fantastic opening on May 23. In order for the film to get still larger, more national distribution, this weekend and the next have to be attended in full force by those of you who want to support courage in art, freedom of speech, and above all, smack the right-wing propaganda mechanism into dead-silence.

Here is the list of theaters at which you can attend and support the film this weekend:

LA Greater Area/Other CA Areas

The Landmark / West LA
10850 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064

Mann Chinese 6
6801 Hollywood Blvd.
Hollywood, CA 90028

Playhouse 7 Cinemas
673 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA, 91101

Ontario Mills 30
4549 Mills Cir
Ontario, CA, 91764

Block 30 @ Orange
20 City Blvd W
Orange, CA, 92868

Westpark 8 Cinemas
3755 Alton Pky
Irvine, CA, 92606

Rancho Niguel 8 Cinemas
25471 Rancho Niguel Rd.
Laguna Niguel, CA, 92677

Cinemas Palme D'Or
Westfield Palm Desert
72840 Highway 111
Palm Desert, CA 92260

Rolling Hills 20
2591 Airport Drive
Rorrance, CA 90505

Laemmle's Monica
1332 2nd St.
Santa Monica, CA 90401

New York/Tri-State Area

Angelika
18 W Houston St.
New York, NY, 10012

Criterion Cinemas
86 Temple St.
New Haven, CT, 06510

Kew Gardens Cinemas
81-05 Lefferts Blvd.
Kew Gardens, NY, 11415

Manhasset Cinemas
430 Plandome Road
Manhasset, NY 11030

Malverne Cinema
350 Hempstead Ave.
Malverne, NY, 11565

All Westchester Saw Mill Multiplex
151 Saw Mill River Rd S.
Hawthorne, NY, 10532

Cinema 100 Twin
Greenburgh Shopping Center
93 Knollwood Rd.
White Plains, NY 10607

Jacob Burns Film Center
364 Manville Road
Pleasantville, NY 10570

Garden Cinemas Norwalk 4
26 Isaac Street
Norwalk, CT 06850

Clairidge Cinemas
486 Bloomfield Ave.
Montclair, NJ, 07042

Red Bank Cinemas
36 White St.
Red Bank, NJ, 07701

Montgomery 6
1325 US Highway 206
Skillman, NJ 08502

And here are the cities and theaters where the film will open next weekend:

Boston
Kendall Square Cinema / Cambridge, MA
One Kendall Square Cambridge, MA 02139

Chicago
Century Theatre / Chicago, IL
Century Shopping Center 2828 North Clark Street Chicago, IL 60657

San Francisco
Embarcadero / San Francisco, CA
One Embarcadero Center, Promenade Level San Francisco, CA 94111

Austin
Arbor Theatre / Austin, TX
10000 Research Blvd Austin, TX 78759

Seattle
Metro Theatre / Seattle, WA
4500 9th Avenue NE Seattle, WA 98105

Follow Larisa Alexandrovna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/larisa_a

Comments

[joebhed]

Great job as usual, Larisa.
This post belongs on the Political page.

[FCBarca]

Country is going to hell in a handbag...Kudos to Cusack

[lungfish]

Its a good movie, I saw it, and it deals with some difficult subjects rather directly. I think it isn't far from the truth in many ways. In particular, the corporate war machine is very nicely depicted for what it is. Halliburton and KBR and all the rest, the pallets of missing money, the Pentagon inspired propaganda, the cynical attitude of profiteering smothered in a thick frosting of "bringing Democracy to the ME"..... Sure, the right likes to abuse Cusack and Moore.... but it turns out that Moore was right and Cusack is offering an artistic satire. Good Job, John!!!

[TimmySlagle]

"those of you who want to support courage in art"

It takes no courage to insult the President, or to deride the War effort, because most of the Arts community agrees with that position.

What really takes courage, is to take a position that runs contrary to what 90% of Hollywood believes; a position that will insure you never do lunch again.

People like Ben Stein and Mel Gibson have shown more courage in their productions, than all the Cusak, Redford, Clooney, DePalma, Damon, Weitz, box office disasters put together.

[JScott]

Looks like a right troll has paid a visit.

[realpolitic]

The same people who are criticizing this movie would have liked to ban George Orwell's novel 1984, the novel Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, undoubtedly The Quiet American by Graham Greene, and any other novels telling us of the futility and madness of war. That we are know privatizing so much of war to corporations whose only concern is profit only magnifies this insanity. Why not forget the entire war and just pay two hge corporations to fight each other and later tell us who won?

[liberalgirl31]

I just watched John Cusack's other Iraq war movie, Grace is Gone, about a man whose soldier wife dies in Iraq and who can't bring himself to accept it or tell their daughters that their mother is dead. It's a tender little drama, well acted and touching. I would recommend you all rent it on DVD.

I hope Mr. Cusack's War Inc gets a wider release and doesn't disappear. I applaud him for making these films.

[lthuedk 1]

I'll go out of my way to see War Inc. Thanks John Cusack for casting light on bad people. And Larissa, look at all the rebots you've aroused at HuffPo. More please.

[janmarbol]

Wow! Duck! they're everywhere - not only on the Fox web page.
John Cusack is a bitter person? What do you think YOU sound like, jeersforfears? Everything you wrote is just wrong in so many ways. He'll give you proof and so will many others. Start by reading the news, unless of course, your bias determines that certain things are lies... like the ones that are inconvenient to your beliefs.

[iratior]

I'll have to make a point of seeing War, Inc., just as I made a point of seeing "The Last Temptation of Christ". In general, if you want me to go see a movie, complain that it is something that ought to be censored. Of course, the irony of going to see "The Last Temptation of Christ" was that it is one of the finest expositions of Christianity ever made; had I not seen it, I would have converted to Paganism a lot sooner. With exquisite photography and dialogue, the movie deals essentially with a question that any serious practitioner of any religion must address: how do you distinguish the truly good from the evils that masquerade as such?

[jeersforfears]

The rhetoric on this thread is startling. People have become so enmeshed in conspiracy thinking that double speak and triple speak has come to run their lives. It's no surprise that someone like John Cusack, a child of Hollywood and its dubious political influences, has been caught up in it. Outrageous slogans and heaps of disinformation have been shoveled into him all his life. I've seen him on talk shows; he is a bitter man.

Mr. Cusak: You are going to have to provide names, dates, times, and places, along with documents and reliable witnesses that establish your claims about the Bush war machine et al to a point whereby Congressman Wexler can say with authority that testimony will be taken by his committee, with the real possibility that someone can be indicted. Until then, you are wide open for criticism from those who disagree with you, and who have their own compelling stories to tell. Suggestion: stop the name calling. It is childish and means fewer people will pay attention to you.

Which also means it is predictable that your film will come across as an angry screed. People first need to be entertained when they go to the movies. They'll get their lectures from qualified people who can dispassionately explain both sides of a story. Or maybe not, but at least they don't want to lay down 10 bucks to be told that they're stupid for not seeing through things the way the film maker does.

[LutherBrixton]

"People first need to be entertained when they go to the movies."

Absolutely! When I watched 'Shindler's List' it was for the belly-laughs it could induce, same with 'Sophie's Choice', and 'Judgement at Nuremberg', NOT so I would "have to use my brain" (as liberals seem hell-bent on making us do!). Unless you can prove by means other than government reports and "factual documentation" such as the Downing Street Memo that the Bush administration deliberately lied the US into war with Iraq when they cherry-picked intelligence to gin up support for a war that the American people would never have supported based on the facts, then I can't possibly be sentient enough to believe such things about such a nice, Christian man as George W Bush! ... AND not only do I want to have more facts than the volumes of information already available to people with functioning brains that prove beyond any doubt that the Bush administration intentionally lied us into Iraq, I want that information to be brought to me in a MUCH more dumbed-down, light-hearted, entertaining fashion (think: '3 Stooges' anti-Hitler pieces) if you want me to trouble my beautiful mind with caring about the one million innocent people that have been slaughtered with my tax dollars by George W Bush's and his vanity war in Iraq!

[NoFactsJustTruth]

John Cusack has never said the movie was anything other than a parody of current situations, so MANY of us against corporate privatization will likely find it PURE entertainment that contains frightening parallels with reality.

From your Horowitz or Graham type comments about John though, it's easy to see your brand of propaganda and the flavor of kool-aid that you prefer to drink, and also illustrates why so many citizens in OUR country were led down the criminal neoCON road of invading Iraq with a lie Saddam was ANY kind of a threat to us when intelligance estimates said he clearly wasn't.

Look out now, that shadow behind you might be a terrorist. BOO!

[ChartreuseMuse]

"Outrageous slogans and heaps of disinformation have been shoveled into him all his life. I've seen him on talk shows; he is a bitter man."

Huh? I think that people who are so-called Children of Hollywood probably are far less exposed to the dubious influences of that burg than those of us who sit glued to Entertainment Tonite and read trash journalism in the supermarket line!
I hardly see him as bitter, not any more bitter than those of us who are looking with dismay at a trashed economy and worldwide reputation, and who are saddened by the level downward to which the Bush/Cheney/Halliburton machine has taken this great nation and its shining ideals.

[tchristin]

Cool. I will be sure now to watch this movie.

[rwe]

This is just typical prograssive elitist deflection.. This movie is the equal of all the previous rancid excuses of Hollywood america bashing crap...War does suck !!! sometimes there is a just cause....Dalton Trumbo's JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN still ranks as one of the great literary accomplishments ever....The current crop of liberal attempts have been putrid... Mainly because they havebeen anti America,anti soldier , lies and just plain awful artistically.

[DocHolliday]

"typical progressive elitist deflection?"

"This movie is the equal of all the previous rancid excuses of Hollywood america bashing crap?"

To address the first point, if you've not even seen the movie (which the author of the article clearly has, as have I) then YOU are the one guilty not of "typical progressive elitist deflection" but of the much more common "typical knee-jerk, hide-under the bed when someone challenges your world view, totally clueless cowards without a clue"

To address the second: War, Inc. is a brilliant work of satire. It's able the to tell the ugly truth about this disastrous administration and it's policy for profit in a disturbing yet entertaining way. A policy that all of us here are already aware of... just as we "progressive elitists" were already aware of the lies that were being told by the White House - and just recently published by their onetime spokesman - that too got you typical knee-jerk, hide-under the bed when someone challenges your world view, totally clueless cowards without a clue, in quite an uproar.

War, Inc. is an excellent movie.
As far as war films go, it's more in the realm of Kubrick's - Paths To Glory - for it's depiction of the futility and wastefulness of war.... though (truth be told) I never laughed once during Paths To Glory... no doubt, you'd probably despise that one too.

Doc

[Adjuster]

Nothing and nobody has been more anti-America than the bush cabal of neo-CONS.

And that's a fact Jack!

[MajorKong]

"sometimes there is a just cause"

True. And sometimes not. This time I'm leaning more towards the "not" column.

[janmarbol]

ignorance is bliss...

[Economike]

Sorry "elitist" was last years buzz word. Better tune into Rush or OBrien and get this years talking points.

[NoFactsJustTruth]

Most excellent piece, Lady L, and nothing less than the TRUTH. The idea the Blackwater compares, in ANY way, to a company that distributed chocolate bars in Europe and the Far East is SOOO stupid and moronic it goes beyond laughable and arrives at pathetic and VERY sad.

It's still more than a 1000 miles to an outlet showing "WAR, Inc.", and I find myself temporarily unemployed, but keeping my fingers crossed I get to see John's film soon. The message must be quite accurate or the corporate masters seeking to control ALL such messages would NOT be so up in arms and doing their best to subvert it at every turn.

Many thanks to John Cusack and you also, as you're both dedicating much of yourselves to defeating the chains of fascism ...for the rest of us.

[fletc3her]

Movies like this tend to be distributed in LA and New York to generate buzz and are then rolled out in additional theaters each week. They don't do 2,000 prints so they can't simply open everywhere at once. According to Landmark Theatres the movie doesn't open in Seattle until June 13.

http://www.landmarktheatres.com/Films/films_frameset.asp?id=67460

Here's the official site.

http://www.firstlookstudios.com/films/warinc/

[TomR]

----
Right-wing Goes After John Cusack
----

John can wear this as a badge of honor. He must be doing something right. Congratulations John!

- Tom