Having recently watched two new films released in 2023, it was striking how propagandised the storylines were, filled with subtle and outright nods to the narrative du jour of the week. Storylines crafted to capture the imaginations of viewers, preying upon their fears, suspicions, and concerns about the invisible present-day boogeyman dangers. (Un)naturally, such worried and suspecting minds have been manipulated to think this way by repeatedly reinforced narratives at the behest of state sponsored media outlets churning out “here’s what you need to know” (here’s how you should interpret what we are telling you) content. Relentlessly and unapologetically.
The Wrath of Becky (*mini spoilers ahead)
Synopsis taken from IMDB:
Two years after she escaped a violent attack on her family, Becky attempts to rebuild her life in the care of an older woman - a kindred spirit named Elena. But, when a group known as the "Noble Men" break into their home, attack them, and take her beloved dog, Diego, Becky must return to her old ways to protect herself and her loved ones.
Unfortunately, these days I can’t go twenty minutes into a film without blurting out self-evident propaganda to my wife, who, bless her, just rolls her eyes and would prefer to enjoy the theatrics without my conspiratorial ranting.
This film was a gratuitously violent revenge melee, which was very watchable in terms of the versus setup; one teenaged girl going up against a gang of baddies, yet it was unsettling in how strongly the seeds were being sown about domestic terrorism in the US and how such groups have apparently infiltrated all fifty states.
In one scene, the protagonist breaks into a log cabin command centre of the “Noble Men” terrorist cell, and happenstances upon blueprints for their planned insurrection at a local town hall event. Does that invoke any memories of events from the US Capitol?
Becky also stumbles across a life-sized cardboard cutout of a Senator Henandez - which is being used for target practice, or so the insinuation goes. Senator Henandez seems to bear a resemblance to a certain lady who claimed she feared for her life during the Capitol incident. What is being implied here?
The blueprints with routes and locations marked out:
Then we have a segment whereby the Noble Men reminisce about their first (political) rally and how they met. Seeding in the consciousness of the viewer that political rallies can serve as fertile ground for white supremacists to be produced and radicalised.
Shortly after, the group raise a glass of whiskey and toast “to freedom”. Recall how the mainstream media propaganda has been trying to connotate the word “freedom” as having been weaponised and synonymous with “extremism” and “domestic terrorism”.
The messaging ramps up as the film progresses, when a song is played by one of the men:
We'll take the traitors, see
Get the hell out of my country if you ain't as white as me
'Cause we're Noble Men and we're standing back
Standing by for the land of the free
We're Noble Men and we're standing back
Standing by for the land of the free
We're Noble Men and we're standing back
Standing by for the land of the free
We're Noble Men and we're standing back
Standing by for the land of the free
Yeah!
Another character quips “That would blow up on Parler!” - immediately designating that platform as having a deeply rooted racist userbase, I suppose.
It wouldn’t be complete with a CIA operative character chiming in towards the end:
That's a thumb drive, and it contains the names of the members of one of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the United States. We've been following them for years. They've expanded through all fifty states, into law enforcement agencies and government agencies.
Well, if the predictive programming is getting more eerily accurate in reflecting real life events that come to pass, stay tuned on those news feeds for a thumb drive containing the names of a nationwide domestic terrorist organisation predicated on white supremacy…
Resident Evil Death Island (*mini spoilers ahead)
Synopsis taken from IMDB:
D.S.O. agent Leon S. Kennedy is on a mission to rescue Dr. Antonio Taylor from kidnappers, when a mysterious woman thwarts his pursuit. Meanwhile, B.S.A.A. agent Chris Redfield is investigating a zombie outbreak in San Francisco, where the cause of the infection cannot be identified. The only thing the victims have in common is that they all visited Alcatraz Island recently. Following that clue, Chris and his team head to the island, where a new horror awaits them.
I grew up playing the resident evil games and admittedly am a fan, as well as the guilty pleasure of enjoying the various live-action movies and worthy animations over the years. Numerous res. evil films have had a storyline curated around the latest zombifying T-Virus being released in a city, or even on the whole world. The finale sometimes crescendos around the protagonist getting hold of the antidote in order them save themselves, or the world.
First off, the word “antidote” was substituted for “vaccine” in this latest foray. Never mind trials or testing - the good guy scientist whipped them up in minutes before taking the vials and syringes to save the team! A literal and unquestionable portrayal of life saving vaccines here. That will put a nice arrow in big pharma’s poetically licensed quiver.
The maniacal mastermind bad guy in this film unveils his bio-drone system, being able to target specific individuals for infection, or entire countries. The bio-drones are nigh invisible to the naked eye, and are depicted as being mosquito-sized.
This storyline also played out in Black Mirror episode “Hated in the Nation”, with drone bees assassinating individuals using a targeted delivery system.
Back in our real world:
Our mass PCR testing frenzy is becoming increasingly suspect, as genomic surveillance and genetic data banks have DNA profiles on billions of humans. As advances are made in biowarfare as well as the miniaturisation of drone technology, this eventuality of targeted attacks does not become so far fetched.
I will cover the developments in genomic surveillance and volatolomics in a separate piece soon. From nanotechnology to robots that can “smell” disease on your breath - things are getting interesting out there.
If you enjoyed that piece, maybe it deserves a virtual coffee or cryptocurrency donation! Either would be hugely appreciated🙏.
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Good to know I'm not the only falang expat who gets the rolling eyes treatment from his ( Thai?) wife for complaining about the digital wallpaper. Mine's got me pegged for a racist and transphobe based on my knee-jerk grunts of anguish when watching British TV which routinely depicts my old homeland as a rainbows and unicorns paradise of mixed race wedded bliss, flaunting at least one gender-bending family member. No prizes for guessing why I haven't been back for eight years!
Great post about predictive programming in movies Nicholas.
I would like add a spoiler take on a one season made for Amazon FreeVee TV series - Sprung. It is more post programming - normalizing the CoV era by both mocking it and embracing some of the silly things like social distancing isolation bubbles. It was poor white trash kind of focused, petty crime dysfunctional non-bio family sit com. CoV let out convicts early so this ragtag bunch stayed at one of their mom's house and she was an old feisty rebel with 70s themed stuff still from her parents supposedly. One of the female white characters said bluntly "I don't like white men anymore but maybe someone will like you." She dated a black man and married a Hispanic man. A Black family were the well to do characters and the sexy black man had been the older mom's love interest but turned out his dad had lied and used his son's picture. The son had a super sexy black female partner. Trans topics didn't make it into the series but the icky Easter Bunny costume head from the 70s was a central image and prop in a few episodes.
The protagonist hero *the white man, and his love interest *Hispanic, didn't make it to a happy ending - she had different goals from him - stay in crime but get richer and urban. He wanted to teach and help his parents.
Breaking up traditional families is a constant theme and mixed-race couples are being promoted. Racial division and dislike are being incited subtly or openly too.
The older woman and a different love interest did work it out and had a cameo moment at the end where they got CoV jabs together.
The series was funny and sexy and highlighted negative stereotypes for whites except the white man hero was nice and liked by everyone, just ended up single while others got the happily ever after.
Propaganda in disguise.