The "Brainwashing of my Dad." Potentially a very important film.

Courtesy of Kickstarter:  

When the filmmaker's parents moved to a place where her father had a long solo commute to work and started listening to Talk Radio to alleviate the boredom, her family saw him change from a non-political Democrat to a radicalized, angry Right-Wing Republican. What happened to Dad? 

As filmmaker, Jen Senko, tries to understand the transformation of her father from a mild mannered life-long Democrat to an angry, Right-Wing fanatic, she uncovers the forces behind the media that changed him completely: a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media by the GOP, The Powell Memo and the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine, all of which would ultimately misinform millions, divide families and even the country itself. 

Remember when Hillary Clinton got pilloried for blaming a “vast right-wing conspiracy” for the relentless attacks against her husband? Maybe you weren’t around then. Well, she said it. Some thought she’d gone off the deep-end. We all know that “conspiracies” mean that you think that we really didn’t land a man on the moon, or that Bigfoot stalks the North - not that there’s anything wrong with that! 

But really, was Hillary right? If you think about it, the country has changed dramatically within the last 30 years. During the 1960s and 70s America was moving in a much more socially minded direction. One could say, “liberal”. Then, slowly the country began to shift. What was once considered “right” is now “center-left”. It can’t be denied that corporations play an ever-increasing role in every facet of our government and the media has been instrumental in this development. We are now so divided that the Left will argue that President Obama is to the right of Reagan while the Right labels him a “Socialist”. Hmm. How did that happen? 

This documentary will look at the changes that happened to a dad (and many others) when he changed his media habits. Then we look at how the media itself changed and the effect it had on our country. The media has a powerful influence on the American mind – so much so that one could argue: if you control the Media, you control the American Mind.

I think all of us have seen this happen to at least one family member, or friend, over the last ten to fifteen years. It almost got my mom, but she started to trust her son and now she is in conservative talking points rehab. 

I just finished reading the Roger Ailes biography, "The Loudest Voice in the Room," and let me tell you it reads like it should be in the horror section of most bookstores.

What Roger Ailes has done, along with conservative talk radio and Right Wing media groups, is just this side of sedition.

They hide behind the 1st Amendment, while doing everything they can to sabotage or potentially overthrow the government.

The only time they calm down is when the Republicans run everything, but the minute the Democrats get any control the shit starts flying hot and heavy.

Fortunately for all of us this new group of young Millennials are very savvy about messaging, and not as easily swayed by fear mongering and subliminal imagery.

If they keep their heads, and not allow greed or fear to distract them, they have a real shot at making this country and this planet a much better place.

And I am going to help this process by making sure my daughter sees this film.