CIA Shifts Hollywood Gaze to Its Best Side

Portrayed as heroes, not villains, the CIA and the US military have emerged as Hollywood winners, suggests Richard McGregor in the Financial Times: “The shift in the CIA’s popular portrayal is more remarkable for the fact that it coincides with the agency’s drone programme, a campaign of offshore assassinations on a scale that used to provoke public and congressional scandals.” Argo, a movie about a ruse about scouting Iran as a location for a science fiction film to rescue six Americans hiding in the Canadian embassy during the Iranian Revolution, won best picture at the Academy Awards. The Obama administration authorized Pentagon cooperation for Zero Dark Thirty, and the film has since been criticized for the attempt to justify use of torture during the effort to track down Osama bin Laden. McGregor’s article was published before the Academy Awards, yet the tight ties between Hollywood and the US military complex were symbolized by First Lady Michelle Obama, flanked by military personnel, announcing the night’s big award for best picture. – YaleGlobal