The Brainwashing of My Dad
| The Brainwashing of My Dad | |
|---|---|
 Film poster | |
| Directed by | Jen Senko |
| Produced by | Matthew Modine, Adam Rackoff |
| Written by | Jen Senko, Melodie Bryant, Fiore DeRosa, Kala Mandrake |
| Starring | Noam Chomsky and Jeff Cohen |
| Narrated by | Matthew Modine |
| Edited by | Kala Mandrake |
Production company |
Cinco Dedos Peliculas |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Brainwashing of My Dad is a 2015 documentary film directed by Jen Senko about her father's transformation from a nonpolitical Democrat into a political Republican. The film was mostly backed by a campaign run on the website Kickstarter.
Synopsis
As filmmaker Jen Senko tries to understand the transformation of her father from a non political, life-long Democrat to an angry, right-wing fanatic, she uncovers the forces behind the media that changed him completely: (a) a plan by Roger Ailes under Nixon for a media takeover by the GOP; (b) the 1971 Powell Memo urging business leaders to influence institutions of public opinion—especially the universities, the media and the courts; (c) the dismantling of the Fairness Doctrine under President Reagan in 1987; (d) the signing of the Telecommunications "Reform" Act under President Clinton in 1996. This documentary shines a light on how the media and the nation changed, and leads to questions about who owns the airwaves, what rights we have as listeners/watchers and what responsibility does our government have to keep the airwaves truly fair, accurate and accountable to the truth.
Content
Senko's father, Frank, was stated by her as originally being a "nonpolitical Kennedy Democrat”, but changing into a far-right Republican since the 1980s.[1] On her father's lengthened commute to his place of employment, he listened to conservative talk radio. Senko believes that the talk shows started the change in her father's personality. Frank listened to Rush Limbaugh and watched Fox News.
The documentary includes Matthew Modine as the narrator.
Towards the end of his life, Frank's views mostly changed back to being somewhere in the middle due to his wife exposing him to liberal media. Frank died in January 2016 at the age of 93.[1]
Production
The film raised 947 backers from Kickstarter; people who noticed the campaign wrote to Senko and she followed up by Skype to receive their stories, which were later put into the film.[2] One Kickstarter backer, Ryan Smith, became an executive producer and provided the remaining funding needed.
Archivist Richard Kroll was hired to search for photographs and video material.
Reception
Marsha Lederman of The Globe and Mail wrote a mixed review of the film saying that the film's topics are "fascinating", but that the film's examination feels "shallow".[3] David Barry of The National Post wrote that the film is "so bad it's good" and that viewers need "fabulous credulity" to find anything new within it.[4]
Carole Di Tosti of Blogcritics wrote, "The documentary is well edited and tells a fascinating story of propagandists, stealth and wealth". "Senko exposes how the conservative media network… seeded anti-democratic values by changing the issues to “morality and family values” diverting the focus from economic equality".[5]
References
- 1 2 Genzlingler, Neil (March 17, 2016). "Review: 'The Brainwashing of My Dad' Examines the influence of right-wing news media". New York Times. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ↑ Kramer, Gary M. (March 20, 2016). "Fox News "brainwashed" so many dads: "People are being bamboozled on a massive scale"". Salon. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ↑ Lederman, Marsha (April 1, 2016). "The Brainwashing of My Dad: Doc explores rise of right-wing media". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ↑ Berry, David (March 31, 2016). "Fed up daughter claims Fox News brainwashed her dad in the so-bad-it's-good documentary of the year". The National Post. Retrieved April 4, 2017.
- ↑ Di Tosti, Carole (March 19, 2016). "Movie Review: 'The Brainwashing of my Dad' with Narration by Matthew Modine". Blogcritics. Retrieved February 8, 2018.