20 People Share Movies They Believe Are Actually Pure Propaganda

Movies are the best example of soft power implementation.

Damjan

• Published in Film & TV
• March 24, 2022

Movies are basically propaganda. Every one of them tries to sell us specific values, lifestyles, and similar.

Some of them are discreet, while others are so obvious in a way that makes them kind of ridiculous but special at the same time. The very fact that directors and producers are not even trying to hide the fact they’ve created a propaganda movie makes them hilarious.

And once you approach such movies as propaganda, you will be able to enjoy them a lot more. For instance, movies are one of the most powerful ways of implementing “soft power.”

It is a way of influencing other countries and nations by distributing movies that speak kindly of your own culture and way of life. Just look at Hollywood – it managed to spread US soft power throughout the globe.

Some of the most apparent examples of propaganda are military movies. Have you noticed that whenever there is a significant military presence in the film, the picture the director is painting is always positive?

Well, that is because if you want the military to back your movie, your movie script has to go through them first. That’s why movies that don’t have military support always have a small number of vehicles and equipment, mostly outdated.

The producers were forced to find them in the open market. The truth is, if you want a big-bang military spectacle, you have to be nice to the army.

Someone asked Redditors: “Which movies do you think are straight-up propaganda?” And the answers came pouring in.

We’ve chosen 40 of the most interesting, and we have to say we agree with most of them. Take a look:

Someone asked:

1. The Internship

2. What the Bleep Do We Know?

3. Rocky 4

4. Battleship

5. Raging Bull

6. Greatest Showman

7. Rambo 3

8. The Lego Movie (what was unclear about that?)

9. Zero Dark Thirty

10. Birth of Nation

11. Battlefield Earth

12. The Interview

13. Top Gun

14. Cast Away

15. Wreck-it Ralph

16. Space Jam 2

17. Night at the Museum

18. Green Berets

19. God's Not Dead

20. Transformers movie franchise

21. Red Dawn

22. American Sniper

23. The new Mulan

24. Pearl Harbor

25. Thomas & The Magic Railroad

26. United Passions

27. Hero

28. Black Hawk Down

29. Captain America

30. Left Behind

31. Shirly Temple movies

32. Reefer Madness

33. Ip Man movies

34. CSI and NCIS

35. 24

36. Starship Troopers

37. Behind Enemy Lines

38. The Pursuit of Happyness

39. Independence day

40. Armageddon

Sometimes shows like CSI are called "copaganda" which is a fun name. But whatever the context or what you call it, it's worth keeping an eye on media that centers on police as there are some pretty weird tropes in the genre.

Black Hawk Down was a huge hit. But the movie differs a lot from the book it was based on. The book described how the locals didn't like the US army and were pretty hostile. In the movie, the US Army is represented as the savior of that troubled country.

Also, one of the soldiers actually took one family hostage, and the main character in the movie is based on a soldier who was later convicted of rape.

Damjan