The US Government’s Not-So-Secret Propaganda Department
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 24 ก.พ. 2023
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Images made with Midjourney AI V4
A partial list of films funded/assisted by the DOD:
www.academia.edu/4460251/Comp...
sources:
america.aljazeera.com/articles...
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1...
www.insideover.com/politics/c...
progressive.org/latest/call-o...
www.defense.gov/News/Inside-D...
www.dazeddigital.com/life-cul...
www.vice.com/en/article/ake88...
tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
A soviet era joke:
"
A CIA agent and a KGB agent talk to each other.
The CIA agent says: "The USSR truly has the best propaganda"
The KGB agent responds: "What are you talking about, the US has the most incredible propaganda."
To which the CIA agent responds: "What do you mean? The US doesn't have any propaganda."
"
It's funny and still real, because some people believe it to be true, that there's no propaganda in Western countries. I like it
Yes what propaganda I have met people in my country like that 😅
hilarious thing about soviet propaganda, the soviet people were very well educated. they could see it was propaganda, it served more of a purpose of morale, agitation, excitement and optimism. yknow, a call to action and keeping peoples spirits up in the face of adversity i.e the US waging wars to destroy the soviets allies, to weaken the USSR. while the USSR had just lost 30 million people and didnt want anymore war, was trying to just build up its friends to resist influence of the US and then become sovereign nations.) and when soviet citizens, would write home or otherwise saw or experienced life in the US/west countries, a good example being east berlin being shocked after the fall of the wall, they realized the soviet propaganda wasnt even malicious lies, theyd say so openly that everything they went through was exactly what the propaganda stories told them was going to happen.
@@FWAKWAKKAlike what? False perversed freedom of the capitalism and democratical fallacy?
@@trendgil yes. The soviets democratic system was far superior to any form of social democracy or liberal system. They also had more freedom generally. There is no freedom with the threat of poverty and destitution permanently kept hanging over your head. There is no democracy while profit margins and rate of return necessitate political and monopolistic action or imperialistic expansion.
The soviet knew all this. And its why they voted against dissilution.
Happened to me. Played war all my childhood. Call of duty, G.I Joe, and War movies galore. As long as I could remember I thought the military was the coolest shit ever, and more importantly that real men are warriors. Turned 18 and joined the Marine Corps infantry. Wasn’t till after I was already in when I realized that I had been a damn fool
sorry for your experience tho on the other hand, good for you. most ppl never realize that, ime...they go with the "Helsinki (?) syndrome" (bonding to one's abuser/a source of trauma...
a person/institution)
@@john-ic5pzStockholm syndrome
@@john-ic5pz Helsinki Syndrome is when you go quiet, start drinking vodka and want to tango...
Young men don’t need to much priming to think war is awesome. The brutal amoral reality of it, and the realization that you’re often fighting for other peoples business interests, is the big secret. But as long as there are young men, there will always be war. It really is just part of human nature
@@BGeezy4sheezy Young men also get the priming from very early on: gun toys, action figures, paramilitary toy sets, action shows. It all normalizes and makes violence look cool. The other method is the state takes advantage of our innate need to feel belonging and warps that in soldiers to make them intensely loyal to each other and the institutions they fight for.
Two films the US army refused to help with was Full Metal Jacket and Platoon.
Both of those were horrifying to see, but if they could go through it, the least I could do, was to bear witness and speak out for the de-escalazation of military and weaponry across the world.
And the one they tried their best to stop it from being made, Apocalypse Now.
R. Lee Ermy was an actual Marine D.I. Full Metal Jacket had some military technical advisors
Or Apocolypse Now. Cant show US soldiers going crazy.
@@elricofmelnibone425private hires. The DoD film Liason unit was not involved. It would have been much cheaper if they were. Kubrick had to obtain choppers and tanks from Belgium or something. And buy the guns from a weapons dealer. Thats all free with the DOD Film Liason Unit.
But they wanted him to remove Pyle's suicide and the young woman sniper at the end.
Those AI generated images can be some real nightmare fuel if you pause on some of em. yikes.
As a rule every Hollywood block buster is propaganda.
Every "girl" you meet online is a man. That's my rule
@@charjl96fair enough
If it's on theater screen you're minds it makes clean.
If your dinner table knows the name they in the game.
@@charjl96haaaahahaha!!!
You trippin buddy😂
The thing is, the military doesn't just refuse to fund anti war media. In the case of Apocalypse Now, then took steps to prevent the movie from being made. When Coppola refused to make changes to his script, they pulled out and pulled some string to make production harder than it needed to be. Not only was the US army unwilling to cooperate, but they leveraged their weight to prevent other countries' militaries from helping too.
Yeah, I heard the production story, how sometimes they would lease a helicopter from the local military and then had to hurry because the military needed it back to fly missions.
@@Dowlphin Yeah. They had to paint over the actual military markings, painting American ones for the movie. Then at the end of the day they had to re paint them back for the military to use.
Damn, I never knew that. I Wonder if the making of “Shooter” with Mark Whalberg ran into similar issues.
They did the same thing with Sydney Lumet's Failsafe. They refused to co-operate. He got around them with editing tricks using stock footage.
I wonder if Terminal List had this issue
This is why I love South Korean films, those film makers doesn't hestiate on potraying its military on a negative light, for example on Korean war film "Taeguki" it doesn't just potray NK negatively but it also potrays South Korean military and police officials killing innocent civilians and unarmed POWs.
Also South Korean drama "D.P" potrays hazing and assault within its own military based on real life events.
This is probably the case because South Koreans had long history of oppression and censorship during the military dictatorship era, and people won democracy through mass protests which putted significant pressure on the government to submit.
Obviously Americans never went through any of that which makes them more oblivious to propaganda in general
That's because ROKA doesn't have any political power in South Korea. Still doesn't make South Korean propaganda, not propaganda.
@@exu7325 they used to have massive political influence, just not anymore
Yeah you haven’t watched We were soldiers.
Because those movie aren't government funded some American vietnam war movie still portal G.I killing Vietnamese civilians because you know racism, misidentification and war fatigue
@@niceyoureadmycomment323 Ok, give an example.
11:40 "Guys, we don't have propaganda anymore" *creates the largest propaganda machine the world has ever seen
Well that explains why every COD player is suicidally over confident about their ability to survive a combat scenario.
Honestly, they're better prepared than the average person. Years of desensitization towards shooting moving human shaped targets (one of the hardest things to train a soldier to do psychologically) as well as teaching them basics of firearms operations and handling. I'm not saying videogames make you the terminator, but I could go to most avid FPS gamers and they could load, aim and shoot a firearm with greater ease than someone who didn't play 2+ hours of murder simulations per day. The US military used to use an edited version of the game DOOM to get soldiers conditioned to shooting human shaped objects in motion without hesitation back in the 90s. Now-a-days they have recruiters playing online trying to scalp young talent. Look it up sometime. This pipeline is what got my cousin into the special forces. His whole life was gaming, and he wanted to become the badass in real life, so he did. He ended up in the Rangers with every extra Qual and Cert he could get, volunteered for every mission or deployment that came his way. And ended up getting out after only 4 years because of sheer boredom. He's now in the process of going back to Iraq as a mercenary to hopefully get more action than he saw in the actual army (only 3 fire fights in 9 months on the frontlines). His words, not mine.
@@henrystokes1987
I'm familiar friend. What makes them suicidally over confident isn't the fact that they've desensitized their sense of empathy to the point of sociopathy, but that the number of times a player dies and is instantly respawned without consequence creates a false sense of resiliency.
War does not work the way it works war games. That's a very small sliver of battle and it's specifically chosen and modified to be the exciting and tolerable part.
You don't get PTSD from COD.
You get PTSD because war is in actuality a chaotic mess of a giant gang fight.
It is every extreme of unfair engagement you can imagine.
Your cousin has yet to learn. That's all. He will. He's getting paid that well because they don't expect him to live long enough to collect.
@@henrystokes1987Nice try, bot. FOH
@@ellingeidbo8469it's obviously a made up story. Probably a bot. The pipeline and online "scouting" is real though
@@Rich_P_AnyaI don't know if it is a made up story. I personally know two operators working in Iraq as mercenaries.The pay is somewhere between 90k and 250k depending on the expectation that they'll live to collect.
What's tripping your bot alarm?
I went to Iraq, and when I played call of duty it felt so gross. It triggered me, and made me angry. That was not what went down, or how it was like. Later on when I was in exposure therapy, my therapist gave me playing call of duty as homework. Had to learn to tolerate the anxiety it gave me because it was connected to my war trauma. I did its job in that regard, but that was not its purpose at all.
Call of duty is meant to be fun not a ptsd generator. So its stuck in its own glory of war ways
I want to suggest another game that's poignant to the point of cruelty to some players. I just want to make it clear the game is a bit of a mindfuck and you should approach it if you feel stable enough to do it / your therapist thinks it's a good step. Spec Ops: The Line (2012). Anyway, I hope you're doing alright.
@@isaac6077odd that a game built around killing strangers is made for fun
says something about us/our culture
@@john-ic5pzyup
@@john-ic5pz Better than doing it in a Colosseum for real.
Honestly the only impression i've gotten from those movies is that American military arrives only right at the end when most of the characters are already dead or wounded or that the military consistently manages to displace and loose expensive hardware to terrorists or other wanna-be doomsday cultists.
And the local people are devastated, lost their homes to bombing or oppressive regimes we supported, but are supposed to be eternally grateful to the American saviors. Sick.
@@down-to-earth-mystery-school If you think thats all there is to it then you should just off yourself
It’s started. Ai generates the imagery for video essays now, not just shorts and reals…
6:14 I'll present this fact whenever I run into the "cod isn't propaganda" argument. Too bad many don't see through it. Whenever you present this fact, people just go quiet. Thank you for this video. Sometimes it feels like im going a little insane with how many people are either willing or not, pretending to not notice what is happening.
I'm with you. Hang in there.
I didnt know it was propaganda nor I couldnt reconize metaphors in the game
But seeing all those kids that could name all those guns felt weird
Many people literally just see the game as a game for mature audiences. The main problem is having minors get access to them weather it would be poor supervision or bad parenting. I can see how COD leads to a lot of misconceptions of war but it’s not going to influence a fully grown adult to enlist but more likely a teen.
You're far from the only one. While it's not nearly the majority, many do see it. I know some smart guys in the valley always talking about where to leave to once things go really side ways. The growing level of intensity in America's narratives around foreign and even domestic politics is clearly taking itself down a dark path.
I eventually couldn't take it and left the states. I traveled East Europe and West Asia to get my own answers. As suspected, US (arguably broadly western) media leaves out 90% of the true reality of things outside. I'll never forget meeting a Ukrainian family in West Asia. I asked them why they didn't go to North America or West Europe. "Ah, I don't want to experience another falling country."
It was actually West Europeans who seem to hate Americans a lot more than I thought, with Chinese and Russians being relatively indifferent. West European's blame the US for causing people to flee the middle east as refugees, and also feel their government has been bought out and unable to do anything about it. That's why you see West European leaders starting to try and appear slightly more aggressive, despite the people knowing it's all talk to just distract from the obvious. Many central Europeans have already shifted eastward economically, though. Saw hundreds of Huawei freights in Hungary, for example. Croatia has big infrastructure deals with China too.
Americans don't understand how many friends the US is losing through the years. It's getting to a point I wouldn't be surprised if Canada and Australia is all that's left in a few decades.
@@WoAiTuMadre2698 Whilst they are both propaganda Top gun and COD have two different aims.
Top Gun are primarily about getting recruits.
Things like COD are primarily about retaining troops, the US military isn't shy about it, they believe gaming helps soldiers mental health whilst deployed and "reinforce" a sense of connection with the military community. Hell navy even funds a Call of Duty Endowment program for veterans.
This video reminds me about how many years ago I actually found a video game made by the US Military and was advertised as such. It was just sitting in GameStop. Pre-owned, no case, dirt cheap. "America's Army True Soldier" was it's title. It was a decent enough game on the Xbox 360 (Played a bit like the Ghost Recon Series). But I remembered as a kid being surprised to see a game made by the Army. And it definitely showed in some aspects. Like how in the PvP of the game you're never fighting US Troops, they always show you as the Troops and the enemy as generic bad guy. Even if you're playing split screen against someone, that's what it's like
Wow that would be so bizzarre to see the other team as being the generic enemy when they see your team as the generic enemy. It is like both teams are playing as the U.S soldiers and the generic enemy at the same time even during PVP.
that reminds me of playing America's Army: Proving Grounds in like 6th grade lol
@ghostcodenameprowler1187 i appreciate you remembering the title of the game!
@@spacecadet1333proving Grounds was 🔥 best shooter community I ever met
That’s how they brainwash you into being a good little soldier.
Michael bay's transformers has to be the most blatant us military recruitment ad it made me want to enlist even though I'm not American 😂
did you think the military had transformers or something?
@@walkingolga6235 this mf when he realizes that the US military is in the transformers movies: 🤯
Great vid per usual, but I wasn’t really a fan of the amount of AI art 😅
yea i noticed it was AI art and some of the frames were cool but then they got rly wonky lol
Felt like it defeated a bit of the purpose or rather th virtue of the video itself lol…. Pay an artist?
"Studio ghibli vietnam" lol
Look da finga, men !!! Look da finga !!!
@@rozerose1504no
I played war as a kid, watched war movies, games and so on. Then I studied history, anthropology, sociology and so on. I also heard the graphic stories of my grandpa and grandma about the war. And as the time came, in which I had to decide what if I want to go to the military, I had no wish for it. Being a man, does not mean to kill another human being. I have no wish to die for corporate interests, and I got bullied enough in school. I don't need that in the military. The civil services are chaotic enough, I don't want this with guns. My grandparents would rotate in their graves, if I would go to the military after everything they have been through and told me about it.
Yes, you can be proud if you want, yes you can learn a lot. But nobody of us will be a hero, we will not achieve anything worthwhile. It is not like in the stories. You will die a pointless, embarrassing and horrific death. It will be honorless, because the cause was corporate greed, and you will have achieved nothing in the long run. US and NATO wars are like that. Russian wars as well, and Chines will be too. You will be scared, you will cry and beg not got go. You will regret it, and your loved ones, will hate you for leaving them. If you are lucky, you die quick. And we can call us lucky if we are just come out of it extremely traumatized and fucked up. Many won't get out of it at all, or will be mutilated. I will never understand military families. Grandparents or parents, who expect their children to go to the military, have clearly not their best interest in mind and should not be responsible to care of a human being.
Powerful strangers with money will always find a way for you to kill and die in the mud. As long as they won't send their own children to fight and die, or go themselves, you have no business on a strange man's battlefield. As long as your family is not in direct danger (for example, Ukraine), you stay at home and take care of them. You have no business in Asia or the Middle East. If they want oil, chips, money or whatever, they should get it themselves. Fuck the nation. Save your loved ones.
PS: I'm from Germany. Without the first world war, my family would be enormous. Without the second world war, I would have not existed, but this war reduced my family to a shadow of its former size. It was pointless, it hurt, and it achieved nothing, except tears.
This is how you think, when you were a child, as you had to comfort your over 80-year-old grandmother, when she cried about the loss of her loved ones in the war. She was 17 when she had to escape Prussia and take care about wounded soldiers and her remaining family.
I like what you saying here also that the war with the current world's really try so hard desperately to nationalized war than just the truth of perspective.
I was one of those believers to think that I could be one of those people to join US army but in reality that only those people who are born US could join and what worst in 2019 where my teacher is an anti war went though talking about the spending billions of dollars in middle east.
Now to the Asia continent I learned also that sometimes our countries had to rely on both US and other Pacific Asian allies to counter the influence of China in the Sea dispute since that also another superpower wanted to get those territories to block trade with international waters.
I am from third world countries of PH and we are also worried about our future to keep us from going to war but only to realized that we are just pawns to the game to fight but our countries only wanted to defend ourselves.
But defense become unclear to the elite.
Edit: to all those who read this I understand who you are and what you want to believe since I won't stop you to talk stories on your opinion.
I agree with your corporatist interests point, to be honest with you I have no intention of dying in some war for, to use a historical example, opium.
However, you must recognize that the world is not rid of those who want to enslave you, to tell you what to say, what to think and what to feel. Authoritarian governments like China, Iran or Russia are like that. And the free world still needs men and women who will defend the ivory tower, as well as the western critics who throw rocks from it, because those rocks tell us that we are still a free people, and we still stand for liberty.
It would be foolish of me to deny the government isn't immoral, or isn't to some degree being played by some corporations, however when I join the military, it'll be not to protect the government, but to protect the people, and the nation that is outlined in the constitution to protect our civil liberties.
I don't want to give my life, but if the call comes in and those who want to strip us of our freedom come knocking, whatever form they take, I'd be ready to give it up to protect those I love, and the ideals I have come to be enamored with.
In my opinion, some things are worth dying for.
Why the fuck would you join the army because you played COD? What?! 😂😂
@@drimmaculate3660 not really to actually gain US citizenship.
@@drimmaculate3660 that was 2019 so long time ago well I guess that people talk cod as a joke I guess but that maybe a stupid thing since for someone who speaking in non US
Like hell ####ing benefits for money obviously and also wanting to rise up to ranks.
But of course I gave up pursuing it.
I’ve noticed that when most Americans say “freedom” they mean classical liberalism. In that respect many countries around the world do hate freedom
The United States is one of those countries too, contrary to the opinion of its citizens.
and t*rror*sm only applies to folks who make their bombs in a basement rather than a factory. USA bombing cities full of civilians based on knowingly falsified documents isn't terrorism...it's a war on terrorism? 🤣 riiiiight!
it's a "get inline with our program" ... seemingly to promote central banks as all of the "dangerous ppl/nations" we've picked fights with in the last 20 yrs have been ones without a central bank like our "Fed" / the IMF system.
Yeah, but it’s an icky narrative to work with. “Freedom” might also be propaganda. “These people don’t like being free” is a much easier pill to swallow intellectually than “these people support a slightly different economic model than you”
America isnt even libertarian the slightest lmao, the irs and fbi alone should disprove this
@@NeostormXLMAX thats what im saying. They hate freedom but they tell their citizens that they love it
One of the big wins of U.S. propaganda happened on Reagan's period: starting to call themselves "America" while before, they common description was "The United States". If you see discourses of Nixon, Johnson or Carter, that was the word. But after Reagan, "Merica" is the word, notwithstanding America is a whole continent.
After reading some stuff about how other American countries feel about this sort of thing, I’ve been trying to exclusively call my country “The US” or similar. I never thought about how goofy it was that we just claimed two entire continents.
Being a US citizen with family from Puerto Rico and Uruguay, that has always thrown me TF off too that the US refers to itself as "America". What about every other country in the western hemisphere? Are they not "American" too???
@@alittlepuertoricanboy1993No they aren’t because it’s not in their name and they got their independence far later and we’re simply colonies at the time. United Statesian is not a thing in English and never has been. It’s always been American as the name of the people so shifting to call it America, home of the already existing Americans isn’t a big shift.
@@badart3204 "Not a thing in English", key phrase there, because the whole Western hemisphere has always been called "America" since the early days of European colonization.
@@badart3204what's so bad about "US citizen"?
the AI art kinda takes away from the messaging, but this was a good listen. super informative in a non biased way
Yeah, I agree as well, as A.I. art just looks wrong in my opinion, that it looks to uncanny for me, but I agree the video does a good job of informing the viewer about the influence that the military has over hollywood.
most TV cops shows are also "advised" by police departments
I mean yeah, if you want to make your show grounded I’d think they’d ask the beat cops who went through it, unless you just hate policing and that was something you’d assume everyone agrees with.
Every single good movie and tv show ever has advisors for what they're depicting, If it's military they have ex military, if it's police they have police. In no way is that "Propaganda"
@@imoonset2682 exactly, it's copaganda!
@@pandemoniousivy4651"Copaganda" is a cope term created by lefties who wish to justify their irrational hatred of the police
You want people who have no idea what they are talking about/doing make some movie about a real thing that actually happened/happens? @@pandemoniousivy4651
I just want to point out how much of a good thing it is that we CAN easily find a list of every movie the DOD "assisted" and exactly what they had changed thanks to simple FOIA requests! That's something not many governments allow regarding their propoganda.
controlled opposition. gives Americans a false sense of democracy.
People in the soviet sphere weren't stupid, sometimes they have an understanding and acceptance that the state lies, that the state knows that you know it lies but it will keep lying anyways because what are you going to do about it. Like an attitude where the state is like bad weather, you just have to keep your head down and say what it wants to hear when it watches and then get back to the hustle.
fr american state propaganda is weird. they will do it brutally, but they allow freedom to expose it criticize it, unlike DPRK or China IG, people rarely disappear here for dissing the state
i wonder if this is a part of the propaganda's effectiveness
While it’s basically a “yeah, you got me” moment, it’s still a good thing to be transparent with ideological influencing.
Its clever of them to do so and done for a reason
one of the reason soviet rule fell was that short before end, censorship was lifted up to some extent, and so much stuff got out people were angry
if it was released bit by bit over the years, it wouldnt do such harm
and also, while not hiding it, they are by no means open about it, its there for few who know
My Grandfather, who was an Army Technician back in Vietnam, explained to me and Father how the Military, Hollywood and the Comic Book Industry are interconnected.
For Jerry Siegel, Stan Lee and Dr. Seuss served in the Army back in World War II and played very instrumental roles in shaping our culture and values.
Even toylines like G.I. Joe, depicted the U.S. Military in a positive light, as the Joes were clearly paragons of justice, that fought Cobra's tyranny.
So even though the media that all of us consume, is entertaining and even uplifting. We all knew it was just pure Idealism. Nothing at all like horrifying, painful and tragic reality.
Fun fact; This same concept happens on a more domestic level. Law and Order! A load of people have watched Dick's Wolf brain-child for decades, and most (if not all) the spin-offs. But it all started with "Dragnet, either the original 1952 show based off radio stories or the the 1967 revival series of the same name. The LAPD was involved heavily with the show, both to not only provide props to make them look more real as well as consulting on police work. The problem is part of the working contract was the LAPD would see/read any scripts and shoots done and determine if it was "appropriate" for the public. They could re-write/re-shoot anything they felt "necessary", and more oft than not it was done to make the officers and detectives played on-screen to look more heroic and justified in whatever they did.
And that's been happening ever since, with practically every police/crime drama. Law and Order in particular had such a contract with the NYPD, so they was able to control what was and wasn't "public friendly" to police. It was subtle propaganda to encourage people to not question the police, and they were the "good guys" who had the public's interest at heart. It's fair if you don't believe me, but there have been a good share of books, articles, research (including other YT vids) documenting this.
Sometimes if you're lucky you can see the real thing every time you turn on the 6 o'clock news
seriously? lol
you can read through the lines but anything strictly real is never shown on the news
@@john-ic5pz real is relative. What the people in charge of doing this understand is that language is everything. If you say something is real convincingly enough, thats all that matters if your aim is to control an undereducated/confused population. You can try to counter-argue with "facts" but even hard facts can be obfuscated, warped, or co-opted by a strong enough narrative. That's the lesson that Trumps presidency taught the world.
Everything is propoganda. Reality exists only to the extent that we can describe it clearly enough to agree on things.
As an English speaker you run into this problem far too often due to US dominance, and extend of it sometimes goes to absurdity. And this makes the irony to stand out even more when US complains about propaganda when others do it. Yes, they are not any better, but if you are telling people you are the "good guy" why do you need the same thing "bad guys" do?
Dude I love your subnautica a ppf 😆
Who the hell complains about propaganda 😂 Also, how are advertisements what the "bad guys" are supposed to do? What kind of planet do you live on
@@avionrico6941 I live on the planet, you live under a rock. Or simply trolling.
@@randomdude8202 Ah yes, my apologies, the most aware man on the social issues of today is in this comment section, with riveting takes, such as "US bad because of ad >:(" and "Propoganda is only something 'evil' countries (the entire world lmao) do"
@@randomdude8202 Get offline big bro, go outside, you're throwing rocks from an ivory tower.
Back during the cold war an American spy and a Soviet spy found themselves seated next to one another at a bar in a neutral country, as such the two struck up a conversation. They talked about the politics of the region, global politics in vague terms, even their home lives in very guarded ways, altogether the conversation was pleasant and unassuming. After a while the American, feeling his drinks a little finally says to the Soviet; "you know, I don't mean anything by this but I have got to confess: you Soviets produce some of the best propaganda I have ever seen." He gushed "I mean it's amazing the quality, how clearly you provide the message while never stating it directly. Masterfully crafted propaganda I got to hand it to you guys!"
The Soviet spy just chuckled, nodded his head in a mock tip of his hat and graciously thanked the American. "I thank you friend," the Soviet said "however I cannot take too much credit for it. After all as excellent our propaganda is nothing we could ever create will ever come close to the propaganda your country produces." At this the Americans face deflated into a confused, scrutinizing glare. The American glanced around the bar before leaning in towards the Soviet saying without a hint of irony "but America doesn't do propaganda."
Came from the Kitchen Debate. Commies can't understand how we could provide refrigerators and ovens to most homes at the time, thought it was all for show. Then Khrushchev visited the US and realized it was all true.
nice story bro.
American beta chud owned epic style by Chad alpha Soviet. Very cool 👍
One of the top comments is this but better written.
When i was in elementary school, middle school, etc., i loved games like Call of Duty and whether due to their messaging or not, i certainly had a very positive perception of U.S. military, intelligence, and foreign policy. Honestly just becoming more educated and reading caused all that naïve sentiment to wear off. Even carefully reading my pro-capitalist, "West"-centric freshman history book presented enough information to prompt me to think more critically about U.S. military activity (mainly just basic information about the Vietnan war and Cambodia). Having teachers that ground conflicts in their historical and ideological contexts is also important, and i've been lucky to have a few such teachers. Even learning about the French revolution and its subsequent reign of terror can be formative to analyzing how movements, conflicts, and political actions are ethically complex and full of contradictions. Learning about Marx's and Engels' political philosophy and then analyzing the actual movements they inspired, the actual orders they gave rise to, is also instrumental in developing a nuanced view of military activity. In recent more recent times, there are so many militray, intelligence, and political activities of the U.S. to deconstruct that should cast serious doubt on the narrative of the U.S. as a source promoting democracy, liberal values, and freedom. To name a few, the Iraq war situation, the Afghanistan occupation and the subsequent disaster of the Taliban's swift takeover and return to sharia law, the U.S. FBI and justice dept's 'activities' in Brazil (which still wasn't enough to end Lula's party), and the U.S. involvement with Ukraine and Israel give us a lot to be cynical about. We also need to take seriously the United States war complex's notorious knack for radicalizing other military groups. There is plenty to unpack about our relationship with Pakistan and the rise of the Taliban, Nigeria and the rise of Boko haram, and very recently how the Saudi Arabian border guard's atrocious behavior can be attributed to Trump-era training with the U.S. military. There's so much more and The War on Peace by Ronan Farrow helped me contextualize a lot of how the U.S. military-intelligence has operated and created many of tomorrow's preimenent enemies of the U.S. A critical study of our history of clandestine operations in South America alone should be enough to make one seriously doubt the U.S. narrative that we are allies and defenders of democracy and freedom. More often we are opportunists of securing oil and business for American companies abroad, and more short term objectives
You are clearly on to a lot of good points here. One thing i will point out that like much of Islam that had been made into a boogeyman so has Sharia law which you mention here without understanding what it truly is about. The Taliban are practicing something else beyond sharia law which makes no sense, the fact that girls are not allowed to go to school is both part of Islam and is not practiced anywhere else in the world which is alarming as to why its being indoctrinated by the Taliban and where is this actually coming from. One sure way to destroy a people and make sure they never rise again and get anywhere is to hold the women back from being educated and becoming productive members of society. I still can’t fathom how or why this is happening. So just so you are aware sharia law is not what you think it is because its clearly always represented as something seriously scary. I would also encourage you to consider and learn more about the consequences of the relationship US has with Israel, as of the current moment that has become alarming and concerning.
@@artemisqueen2 thank you for making me aware. I have not studied the Qur'an so perhaps I have a false sense of what sharia law actually consists of. I'll try to learn more about it
As Eric Cartman once said "That movie has warped my fragile little mind." It's more likely that kids don't care if Call of Duty is revisionist history. It's a fairly common practice these days.
Additionally, many who say how insane it is that nobody questions this, it's because the U.S. school system teaches the same revisionist history. Very rarely are the atrocities committed by the U.S., or how they continue to do so is mentioned. Especially when many teachers are former soldiers, retelling their version of events (to no fault of their own).
Yeah but most people playing Call of Duty are not playing it to get a history lesson.
@@Friendly_Neigborhood_Astolfothey're probably getting a small one along the way anyway
What changed with the rise of ‘democracies’ was that the ruling elite had to become more concerned with guiding public opinion.
Guiding public opinion is what keeps the capitalist machine going. Companies treaded as persons who lobby for their interests and buy politicians are who are truly ruling and guiding public opinion. People are essentially a commodity that now are used by giant social media companies to sell to companies and advertisers.
For anybody that hasn't seen it, the 4th PSYOP Group released a video titled "Ghosts in the Machine" here on TH-cam. I seriously recommend it as a watch, if only to see what truly effective propaganda looks and feels like- you know it's designed to appeal to us as an audience, but it looks "cool" anyway. Really gives you a hint at how much these propaganda organizations understand their tasking.
Are they gonna make my ‘Ghost [to] the [Monitoring Equipment]’ suit?
"The media is the most powerful tool in the world"-Malcolm X
Dude this level of storytelling, research, and visual aesthetics is crazy for a channel this small. Congrats on the work you’ve done so far and looking forward to seeing your growth
Ai generated images xdddd
It’s literally AI generated
Well its not an personal artwork channel so i wouldnt care if its ai generated. Images here just stand as some visuals, without any addition to story telling. Screen might as well be black. But some nice pictures doesnt hurt, so whats the problem?
@@waiperis2450 I guess the compliment should just be 'storytelling and research', not the 'visual aesthetics' as the original comment stated since the visuals are just minimal effort compared to the rest of the video (editing, scriptwriting, etc). Especially if you're simply prompting an art and not going deeper technically (like training your own AI, inpainting, etc). But you're right, it's not a personal artwork channel. Just my attempt at answering why the reaction to the op's comment.
Honestly it's really hard to be impressed with aesthetics lately especially if you know it's AI generated. When it's purely human it's just inherently more 'wow' factor. It's especially deceiving when one don't even admit to using AI.
At least those are not the average ai images, even in other essay videos there are stock images so why not? They are just backgrounds and for me it is cool; if it was an artwork channel that lied then it would be gross
I gotta say that the Ronald Reagan in CoD Black Ops: Cold War was pretty on-brand and on-message! Bear in mind that "Independence Day" also did not have the backing of the US military, despite it's understandably pro-military stance. The US military balked at mention of aliens at Area 51 and insisted the script be altered. Otherwise, they were cool with it!
Well well well . Sounds like they got something to hide Huh.
@@tetraxis3011 Sounds legit!
@@tetraxis3011 Alien sex in the Area 51 testing labs be litt
I knew the US Military could influence your script based on what equipment the studio can use, but I didn't know they could edit the script and the final cut.
No way you didn't mention that the US Army actually had their own video game for years "America's Army". It romanticized basic training, was an excellent game, and actually inspired me to join as a kid (17).
So in the end do you think that kind of advertisement is unethical?
@@smileguy1187it's a good question. If they directly market the game to kids that makes it iffy. At least it's overt recruiting.
@@alexanderduffield99kids are who join the military. At 41, I strongly believe 18 year olds are absolutely still kids. They're just technically not children anymore.
Have you ever been to a place where you knew your central nervous system wasnt being monitored wirelessly by those marketed as part of the military?
I never have.
Bc it’s COD now
A lot of the times, I listen to youtube videos and podcasts while I'm at work. Your videos, however, are way too good-looking to just listen to. There's this historic yet brilliant allure to them. Kind of like stepping into an antique shop and feeling the air change. Or getting lost in a very good book that's right up your alley. Or finding THAT piece of art at the museum you just can't stop looking at. Keep them coming, man. This shit is special.
This.
Not to rip away the curtain but it's all AI art, It's fair that he uses it though
@ortah2616 yeah, I'm aware of that. I think what saying is there's a certain timbre to his presentations.
Kinda like maybe propaganda?
its depressing as hell to know it’s all ai though..
this channel is a gold mine, so glad i found it
I knew it was rewritten history/ propaganda even as a kid. I figured it was more fun and interesting to have those stories than real ones.
Exactly! What's more, nothing is safe from propaganda. Human beings are naturally subjective, meaning that we see the world as a personal approximation of what it actually is.
The only way you'll know if something is absolutely true is if you get similar verdicts from people who have widely different points of view on the same topic. You simply can't have a perfectly objective movie, which is fine by me! Usually, the more inaccurate or exaggerated a movie is, the more appealing and interesting it ends up being, because the author/s had a more personal relation to it, even if it is that way because of slimy propaganda.
@@lordtomlluckrahthegreat9014This reason why l have trust issue. Because humans has ability to say "1+1 is not 2 but 11"
@@YonIon996 But "muh experiences" say otherwise!
During WWII before my Grandfather was deployed to fight in Italy via Army-Air. Before that he was stationed in a Florida air base. When I was a child I had heard stories that Grandpa was in the background on a landing field in war movie. Turns out, it’s true. Can’t make him out in the grouping of soldiers rushing by the main characters. The movie was called “Air Force”, an Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner, found it on Amazon Prime last year…full propaganda film of group of airman on their way to fight in the Pacific.
Hey, saw that in the hospital a while back. Not bad, melodramatic, but that's hardly shocking.
5:53 anybody else remember the US Army funded BOTW server? It was the only stable server in the game
What's BOTW? I just keep thinking of Breath of the Wild
@@desertranger3199 beyond the wire a game made by owi
@@desertranger3199Best Of The Worst. It's a series by the channel RedLetterMedia.
You deserve a lot more views on your videos. I was thoroughly entertain and terrified at the same time.
Ty! The channel will get where it’s going in time 💪🏻
@@HorsesOnYT No you don't ,youre using AI images. not only is it creatively bankrupt but morally as well.
@@franciscoaguirre96 Oh god, he is using new techniques, the [insert generic bad person title here]!
The world will collapse soon.
@@franciscoaguirre96 You prefer that a lack of personal artistic skill and money to pay an artist for hundreds of bespoke works should prevent people, who can otherwise make engaging content, from being on the platform? That's just elitist and classist.
true education changes ones outlooks... that's a terrifying thing, to have to drop an old illusion in favor of a less than cheerful aspect of reality
Incredibly informative and well made. I cannot believe I've been so blind, it was right in front of me for years
ima be honest. the AI imagery is distracting from the message. im just tryna listen to a video essay and I keep seeing people with potatoes for heads.
The "Star Gate" series is by far my favorite piece of media that was actively influenced by the DOD
Is there a detailed documentation of in what way they exerted influence vs. writer intent?
@@Dowlphin Ladyknightthebrave did a great retrospective on the show where she touches on it but not as in depth as this video th-cam.com/video/cClnrO64mpE/w-d-xo.html
I like that show. It's entertaining.
I like that show, go US Air Force bomb, those, um. BAD GUYS, Murica F'k yeah...
Nope, totally not propaganda.
@@Melody_Raventressit definitely is propaganda, I love it but it's important to recognize it.
Hey man, I just stumbled across your channel and really enjoy the content, I know you’re going to go places with this channel :)
your voice is incredibly good to listen to! the way you subtly accentuate certain words makes me feel like a curious child who's getting an explanation on a topic he was curious about, while keeping it all professional :) keep it up!
finding out that COD was just as intrinsically involved in recruiting my little brothers to the military from the time they were in elementary school as i always suspected does not make me feel like "i told you so" it makes me feel horribly depressed and dysphoric about the world. i was supposed to protect them. how was i supposed to know the danger was inside the house
"The Military Entertainment Complex" Touche!
pov:
12:09 when Ai can't make hands.
🫠
Can’t yet.
are you using AI images?
Yeah, the writing is good but I don’t get why he couldn’t just use movie footage
I really love your thoughtful essays and ideas, so I hope this critique doesn't come off as gross or shallow, but I am somewhat troubled and distracted by the use of AI art in these videos idk.
same, i love his voice and his style but AI he can probably afford comissions to actual illustrators
Nah instead of art he should have showed articles relating to whatever he was talking about at the time
I worked in dog sled racing and its bad. It makes me think back about all this children's media about sled dogs. And all of the horse racing movies aimed at family audiences. Animal racing is cruel but its pretty hard to get people to see it that way, even with so many horses dying on camera at races. Media is so powerful a tool its pretty scary.
I find what tou say really interesting. If you dont mind, could you tell me how it is these things are brutal? Im not challenging your stance, im just uninformed
@@o_____o1029 With horse racing, horses die during races. all the time. hundreds per year just in the united states. in 2022 over 300 died of racing related illness and injury and thats the lowest its been.
And thats not even counting the wastage created by breeding and displacing so many horses to find the few winners worth money.
Theres stories of abuse and drugging going back decades.
In the us one of the big issues is running young horses, and they are running so fast its causing their leg bones to literally explode. there is a youtube channel called "horse racing wrongs" that is nothing but clips of race horses breaking their legs on race tracks.
I worked in dog sled racing. All the dogs live on chains in the cold and snow. some of these mushers have hundreds of dogs all living on chains their entire lives only getting off to pull a sled or to train. The iditarod is a race in alaska that is over 1000miles long. its been running since around 1970 and over 150 dogs have died. the dogs are made to run sometimes well over 100 miles per day. very few dogs make it to the finish line. they are ran until they quit eating and drinking and basically become ragdolls. the goal is to push the dogs as hard as you can to find the toughest and best dogs so you can breed them and do it again next year.
There is a movie that came out in 2016 called "sled dogs" which is super accurate. And even the PETA stuff is really good. undercoverinvestigations of racing sled dog kennels.
whether its 1000 miles with dogs or one lap around a track with a horse, all animal racing works the same way and its not good for animals.
i could go on and on and on. suffice it to say its not like it is in the movies!
This is why racing animals should be turned into finished goods you see.....
@@gnarl12 then we should unban animal fighting. People actually eat chickens yet rooster fighting is illegal.
@@o_____o1029look it up if you must
I didn't realise as a kid that call of duty was propaganda but I always wondered and was annoyed why I could never play anything but American.
this was one of the best youtube videos i’ve ever seen. so beautifully done in every way. i can’t believe i get to see your content for free.
I like that you include your own subtitles. Auto captioning can be flakey sometimes. Thank you for that extra bit of effort
Please dude, just pay for your artist. This is so gross.
Nah
Cant believe this was the only comment I saw on the awful AI visuals. Seriously, wtf is that hand at 6:51??? Got like 9 fingers
yeah i’ve been pretty neutral on AI art for a while, but seeing something like this is pretty yucky. i’m super interested in the topic, but i couldn’t even make it 4 minutes in.
Why must he pay, what if he doesn’t have the money for that ? Seems privileged of u to demand. Ai will be a the tool of the working class slowly but surely it’s becoming that. sucks to suck, any “problem” with AI is just a problem of capitalism
The ends justify the means. The message in the video must come across to as many people as possible and by any means necessary.
I love the harmony right at the end with the harp. It's almost like you were putting us to sleep but then calling us awake at the same time to the fact that we've always been under the guise of this kind of propaganda. I was curious of what your angle was on this particular video and I have to agree that until you pointed it out a lot of the films that I liked when I was growing up when I was a kid was a lot of pro military stuff.
These AI images are seriously cursed
This channel is so underrated. Excellent work and presentation, sir. You earned another sub.
This channel is great, keep going with stuff like this
When you Find the mot underrated channel on TH-cam.
❤️
More like most pasé
This is another fascinating video with information I didn't have knowledge of prior to viewing. I know your video is meant to be isolated to talking specifically about military propaganda, but there is so much propaganda present in our day to day media that covers a variety of different topics/beliefs/ideologies. After watching several of your videos (and loving them) - I feel that you would get something out of the book "Rape of the Mind" by Joost Merloo.
Keep up the great work. Appreciate your content.
The use of AI/maybe not fully AI Asian art illustrations is certainly unusual
This video makes me want to watch a brutally honest to life war anime. The art style of everything from the modern to world war eras looks great. Aside from that the video itself and information is phenomenal. Awesome to watch!
I spent more time looking at the odd landscape of AI art than anything else. Almost like it was taking place in an alternative reality.
Why is this all AI generated?
Cheaper and easier than buying stock images or finding / drawing stuff to fill in the space.
His newer videos have forgone it
I think we also do have to consider how Hollywood usually is open to the world so sometimes it could be more for other countries to make assumptions about America while they are hoping it’s citizens aren’t too dumb (but a lot points to this early if ever the case, at least in the past 15-20 years or more)
sad as it is, they are (intentionally) helping make its citizens increasingly dumb.
The thing is almost no one trusts or cares about cod or hollywood.
The worst part is amerigolems infiltrating the anime industry or the japanese game industry since zoomers watch and play those much more, there has been a strong holdout though but recently it has been breaking and anime is becoming westernized
" while they are hoping it’s citizens aren’t too dumb'"
I'm sorry but that's completely false, so please cross out that notion. The citizens are very much the target of the propaganda and manipulation. They do not act in the average citizen's best interest, it's all for the interests especially profits of the people that run the military industrial complex and the puppets in power.
Nah, if anything it's the exact opposite. To non-Americans (like me), it's obvious that these are propaganda. They are primarily targeted at Americans, to boost recruitment numbers and manufacture public consent to military adventures.
Use of "AI" = as discredited as DOD propaganda.
This isn’t just in movies, it’s in TV, it’s in ads, commercials, news, education, HR depts, social media platforms and comment sections. Basically we are constantly manípulated and contrølled by our own gøvernment.
When I watched the 2017 Wonder Woman film one moment stuck out to me. As WW is pursuing her enemies, she encounters a battle on the western front during WWI. She helps save some people, and then dramatically stands above them on the second floor of a bombed out building. That bombed out building was a church.
At the time I thought it was some director or writer having a little fun. Switching out the imagery of the Christian God with that of a female goddess. Now, I'm not so sure what the intention was.
everything you see in a movie is thought out by a person. Every scene has been thought out.
trust me, it is the first thing you learn when you go to college to learn about movies.
Even the most inconsequential scene, prop or even imagery as you said (destroyed church with wonder women in front looking down) is done on purpose.
My interpretation, which may be wrong: Christianity (more specifically Christo-fascism and Christian nationalism) is falling, but will rise up again, by the glory of the authoritarian God and His angels
@@UBF.World.Championship.Boxing theocrat spotted lmfao
@@UBF.World.Championship.BoxingPretty sure it is wrong.
Do you think a scene that includes the bombing of a holy building being framed as shocking/bad is there to secretly sway the masses into believing Christianity will raise again, or is there for general "oh shit, these guys/this war/this situation truly is fucked up, to damage an otherwise holy building"? Which do you believe to be more likely?
I don't like the AI art
Cope and seethe
I can't help but look at these AI images and realise how terrible they are
You can't because they are plainly terrible! It's not your problem if you can't conform when you see garbage on your screen! It's the author's fault, for relaying on the use of cheap AI crap because his message is insufficiently embellished without it!
These images are a contorting travesty, deserving only of repulsion.
Going from military industrial complex to military entertainment complex shook me to my core. I almost joined the marines after I graduated high school, but I opted out when I realized I don’t want to be treated like a cog in a machine or to be yelled at constantly. This video really opened my eyes to how deep it went. Cheers.
As an artist I'm actually irritated by the extensive use of AI art here
it’s just a backdrop to the script, which is very well researched.
@@nolo5220 idrc
@@dustyv3148 and I doubt the video's creator cares about your art.
It is shit and very obviously AI for anyone with just a bit of knowledge
@@graypalks ok?
creepy AI bits aside, I feel kinda hyped to see a realistic US military-themed anime all of a sudden...
Great video, as always :D
joods amerika is het
I love the history about this, the Anime themes, which I truly love, & nice jazz music.
Very well said.
However at the end of the day; Propaganda is nothing but an illusion & false hope and War is nothing but reality of brutality with no righteous point of view.
War is hell.
This became quickly one of my favorite YT channels. 🖤
I appreciate the note about about WW2. I have never loved war and never will, but fighting a brutal fascist authoritarian government is as noble a justification for going to war as I can think
I agree and we should go back to that business model like a moraly upright nation should.
For average American soldiers this was the case. But the reason the US entered the war was really because Germany had gotten too powerful, threatening the American Empire.
@@PurpleSnakeAmerica wasn’t the world hegemon yet. That was Britain. The American Empire (the Philippines and Caribbean islands) was very much not threatened by Germany and instead joined bc 1. Japan attacked the US because we cut off their oil bc we didn’t like the Chinese atrocity. 2. Germany declared war first not the U.S. 3. Ideological support for fellow democracies. Stop gargling anti-American propaganda that everything in the US is about empire and no one has ideological motivations and morality.
But first American and European banks openly funded creation of said brutal fascist authoritarian government (and sold them top of the line military technology) with intent to direct it against USSR.
The US military is a voluntary force, so they rely on recruiting. IMO there is a difference between pretty innocuous recruiting and propaganda meant to push a national message. The US does both but I do think the distinction is important.
Thank you very much.
Your videos are well made, well researched, and very well written.
Excellent video, thanks for making this! I've long known about this arrangement between the military and entertainment (see The Historical Roots of CIA-Hollywood Propaganda by Carl Bernstein) but had not heard about the WWB before.
The movie "Three Kings" was made without support from the US military, they had to use scrap vehicles.
Imagine, this creator is also paid by the government
Or American adversaries? 🤔
_wHaT's tHe DiFFeReNcE??_
@@johnfarley7074 Remember, anyone who criticizes America is only paid to do so. There is famously no issues with America's government and society, so who would ever criticize anything about it?
He probably is. The CCP that is
@@ortah2616I get that you were being hyperbolic, but that's some echochamber type sentiment. Mfs criticizing the US can be doing so for dumb reasons. Their ideas can be biased. Just like how folks defending the US can be doing so for dumb reasons & can be biased. Films vaguely supporting the military can be on some propaganda shit like how independent media can be on some propaganda shit
Dude made a joke. Another guy made a joke in relation to his, maybe even having the audacity to imply that the vid isn't entirely pure of bias itself. And then you intentionally wildly misrepresent what they were, even just potentially, getting at. To what, epically own someone?
Your reply was just bizarre to me. I hope I misinterpreted it or something.
well presented and honest
thank you.
I'm surprised you didn't mention America's Army: Proving Grounds. Developed and published directly by the US Army in 2015, its sole purpose was recruitment. The game gave players a realistic portrayal of Army roles and training to try and attract potential recruits.
Though I recall the Army's actual recruitment gaming program that launched it was later defunded, the game itself is still around on PC and PS4. It strived to sell players on the ideals of military service through its gameplay. While some saw it as an effective virtual marketing tool, others viewed it as overly promotional.
In any case, Proving Grounds was a bold experiment by the Army to try reaching younger audiences on their own gaming turf. It will be interesting to see if other branches attempt similar recruitment-focused titles going forward, or continue sticking to more traditional advertising avenues. America's Army provided a unique window into how the military has utilized video games as a recruitment mechanism.
I love your channel! I just found it a few weeks ago and so far I’ve loved every video I’ve seen. I hope your channel keeps growing! I’ve been wondering though, how do you source all of the art you use? Is it all made by you or do you find it on certain websites? It all seems super personalized to your videos, is it AI?
Its AI. Look at the hands
Yeah, it’s AI
@@matijavorkapic1473 Or the rest of their bodies too... it makes me nauseous to look at, just because the AIs always make surreal body horror...
The DOD will not give any money or equipment to any movies that they decide would show the military in a bad light. The producers of Down Periscope were denied any help because of the “Mutiny”. The movie went on to generate a huge wave of recruiting for the navy.
Thanks for posting this
Your voice is soothing and your message is a noble one. Salute brother.
Why god are you using ai generated art
ikr
Democratizing creativity
its the picture book version for children who dont understand words strung together into sentences.
@@dagon99more like democratizing laziness, as there's not an ounce of creativity here
@@jcanal0221isn't lazy at all, actually. You are gonna be wasting a lot of time in the prompt just to get an ok image. It's a 100 times easier to just browse real pictures.
It’s kinda funny bc Oppenheimer is so massive yet it portrays the us gov accurately
These videos are so important, ty
I just saw an ad for a video game, portraying the battle of Ia Drang, and thought to myself how nothing is sacred, including the memories of men who died or left part of themselves in places like that, only to have corporate ghouls and blind consumerism not give a shit and keep chasing that almighty dollar.
Only americans don't see how Capt. America and Iron Man are propaganda.
The first iron man movie already had the dude as a weapons dealer. How is that supposed to go under anyone's radar? (Pun intended)
Amazing video. It's a wonder how you don't have more views and likes
Ex military spouse and sibling to a sailor here: the military uses COD as a recruitment tool. If you're good enough, they might approach you with a job offer to become a drone pilot; drones are literally driven with a much more complex Xbox controller...
Happened to a few people I know, some of whom were already enlisted. There's nothing subtle about it. That sentence was just ridiculously optimistic and you should probably assume the worst intent with this subject. There is nothing benevolent about the US Gov't
2 ad breaks in a 5min span is wild. if it’s YT doing that w/out creators knowledge that’s even wilder
If this is the case, how the hell did the og cod mw2 get away with shepards betrayal? I understand shadows are like a mercenary group (kinda) but arent there records of us military leaders and presidents doing the same thing?
While there are some things in the Call of Duty games that still show the U.S. military in an arguably bad light, the games still certainly promote the ideals of the U.S. military. A few negative things being able to slip into the games doesn't disprove that the U.S. military uses these games as a form of propaganda. Often times, an excuse people on the right like to use is that it's not a systematic problem (the U.S. military) but a problem caused by a few bad actors (Shepard and the people working with him). MW2 still fits great into U.S. military propaganda because you can imagine yourself as any one of the good guys stopping the bad actors.
I'd say zthecat nailed it. COD games can briefly touch on the surface of the wrongs of US imperialism, and when focusing on player character, get even quite critical of it, but this is always on the individual level. It addresses the tribulations these soldiers face and their conflict of morality yet always ensure that the sins are laid at the feet of one singular bad actor that has gone "rogue" from the wider supposed prosperity that the US offer as world police.
Shepard's Shadow company a PMC portrayed as a corruption of the flawless ideas of the Rangers. Any critique one might have for the US military can be deflected at war profiteers and golry hunting generals instead of raising peoples' vigilance ant their countries more shady foreign policy.
I find black ops comes the closest to going all in on the critique. Lines by Reznov such as "the flags differing, but the methods stay the same". the reality is probably that the writers can only go so far in such a message before they start putting their careers at stake as that game still ends with full US fanfare where the CIA save the world from the crazy Russians hellbent on gassing man, woman and child.
Something along the way of we need to do some bad to stop someone else from doing way worse things and in the end they were just a small part of the whole military
Oh absolutely, but it doesn’t matter because even though in many respects in old and current modern warfare games, the US military is seen as an antagonistic force, it boosts their recruitment and they still change shit. For example in the new modern warfare games, 1 specifically; several attacks we play through and hear about being conducted by the Russians were actually war crimes committed by the army or marines.
Great reply zthecat!