propaganda - abominable choice, Mr. Scorsese

Rating: 1/10 (23 February 2010)

In a book or a film, which is not there in order to instruct, but instead there to enlighten and construct - in such books and films, authority must never be right! In the propaganda-film, authority is always right and something to be trusted, not questioned. Furthermore, a film or book that cannot be generalized as an example for something can be described as a case-study, which, together with many other case-studies, can give rise to an interesting new theory with a possible general usefulness. A single case-study is however only interesting if it overthrows an existing theory and this film does not. On the contrary. This film (case-study) does instead glamorize existing authority.
In the other films by the same author, Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River, we find the same abominable tendencies as in this film. Generalized as propaganda, Gone Baby Gone, leads us to believe that missing children are taken care of by better parents and Mystic River insidiously tries to tell us that we shouldn't feel to bad about doing wrong against the forsaken, since their lives are f-d up anyway (hinting closing-scenes in Mystic River).
Of course, it is not difficult to be published as an author with this kind of content in your writing. Machiavelli managed to let the whole thing go "over the top" in his "The Prince", so that we today can read his book as a revelation of what power is all about, while he, in his day and with some courage, managed to sell as praise what in fact was its very opposite. This author's work does not go "over the top" however and what can be learned from it is only abominable, if you allow such "learning" to take place.
The word is again "fascism", which is the idea that an elite of humans should be allowed to govern the vast majority as they, the elite, see fit and if you have a lot of money and/or power, you are a member of the club and you then publish whatever enhances your chances to stay in power, like works that defend authority.