Review of 2016: Obama's America (2012) by Jc E — 15 Oct 2012

Once can't give a typical film review when the film in question is a documentary. Therefore, this review will be anything but typical. Political documentaries - or at least those with an agenda - are tricky. Normally, they come across as preachy, rather than informative. Too often they are so slanted to one side or the other as to abolish any reason for argument. This documentary does its best to keep an open mind, but is only marginally successful. (Full disclosure: this reviewer is very conservative, and hopes the titular suggestion does not come to fruition.).

Dinesh D'Souza, an author and commentator, takes a look into Obama's past, and uncovers a few elements that even those privy to news outlets like Fox News haven't heard yet. It goes without saying that the media did not do their homework on our sitting president, but it's not surprising. However, what D'Souza hypothesizes will probably surprise even supporters of the president. D'Souza isn't a birther, doesn't think that the president is a Muslim plant, and doesn't think he's trying to stir up racial tension - though, his policies may suggest that anyways. D'Souza looks at what motivates Obama from a whole different perspective - and if it were told here, it would defeat the purpose of seeing the film.

Liberals are outraged that a film such as this has broken into the mainstream so easily. It'd be easy to launch into a verbal tirade about the disaster this president has been for this country, but his actions/inactions speak louder than words. The fact that someone like D'Souza has concisely presented a theory as to why the president does what he does is irritating to the lemmings that follow him blindly. Documentaries are usually not the most entertaining films and they usually succumb to tactics that try to appear artistic, and this film is no different. But what sets this film apart from most documentaries is that it presents the hypothesis, and really leaves it to the viewers to decide. Unlike the sob stories or doomsday scenarios that usually accompany the left-leaning documentaries, this one actually assumes the viewer is capable of their own decision.