National Security Cinema Quotes

“The producers also changed the name of one of the characters, Ranger Specialist John Stebbins, because in real life he had been sentenced to 30 years in jail for raping and sodomizing his six-year-old daughter.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“Likewise, even though we are invited to respect the Na’vi, we are not required to identify with them—our heroes remain the humans, and US Marines at that.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“This underlying aspect to the politics of Hollywood cinema is a vital element that ensures Hollywood chimes with the interests of the state, or, at least, does not oppose them.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“Thus, the CIA are, at times, side-lining or bypassing their own OPA in providing assistance to filmmakers, and reviewing and modifying their creations, leaving little in the way of a paper trail for internal or external investigators to examine. They are acting with little accountability, if any, and leaving few traces of their actions.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“The Los Angeles Times printed a lie that had been leaked by the FBI, namely that the father of Seberg’s unborn child was a prominent Black Panther. Shocked by the story, Seberg immediately collapsed and went into labour. Her daughter died three days later. Seberg then attempted to commit suicide on the anniversary of the child’s death every year until 1979, when eventually she succeeded. Just over a year later, her husband, Gary, also killed himself.[cxxiv] Hoover had been directly involved in the operation to ruin Seberg’s life.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“Disney maintained a relationship with the Bureau via their Los Angeles field office, and, in 1955, was promoted to a Special Agent in Charge contact, meaning he could run his own informants in Hollywood.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“The FBI recruited high profile celebrities as informants within the entertainment industry. These included Ronald Reagan and his first wife Jane Wyman, Cary Grant, and, perhaps most famously, Walt Disney.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“The Blacklist and Spooks employ a ‘villain of the week’ format, portraying almost anyone and everyone as a possible terrorist or master criminal.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“Affleck joked, ‘I think Hollywood is probably full of CIA agents and we just don’t know it and I wouldn’t be surprised to find this was extremely common.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“Pautz’s study produced no evidence of public opinion going in the other direction – towards being more sceptical of the CIA, the government or politics in general – confirming that, at least in the short-term, these films are highly effective instruments of propaganda.[cix]”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“A team led by Michelle Pautz surveyed the opinions of audiences both before and after they watched one of these two CIA-supported films, and found that around a quarter changed their views, or had their views changed.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“the CIA's practice of sending narratives into foreign markets, knowing full well that they would find their way back into the domestic population, was revealed during the Church Committee hearings as a tactic to evade laws on propagandising the public.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“From the very earliest years after their creation, the CIA were recruiting assets within the highest levels of the film industry and using them to spy on Hollywood and to add and remove material from movie scripts.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“In 2014, former Deputy Counsel or Acting General Counsel of the CIA, John Rizzo, wrote, ‘The CIA has long had a special relationship with the entertainment industry, devoting considerable attention to fostering relationships with Hollywood movers and shakers—studio executives, producers, directors, big-name actors.”
― Matthew Alford, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“From the very earliest years after their creation, the CIA were recruiting assets within the highest levels of the film industry and using them to spy on Hollywood and to add and remove material from movie scripts.”
― Tom Secker, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood

“In 2014, former Deputy Counsel or Acting General Counsel of the CIA, John Rizzo, wrote, ‘The CIA has long had a special relationship with the entertainment industry, devoting considerable attention to fostering relationships with Hollywood movers and shakers—studio executives, producers, directors, big-name actors.”
― Tom Secker, National Security Cinema: The Shocking New Evidence of Government Control in Hollywood