Review of America: Imagine the World Without Her (2014) by Jonathon C — 17 Aug 2014

I don't know how I feel about this documentary. It made some very good points, most notably at detailing just how justified America was in listing "sins" that were supposedly borne from this country, as well as showing dramatic cinematography at suitable times. However, this film has three major problems.

Firstly, the title. It's almost fabrication, a brief gloss on a wide canvas. D'Souza does a wonderful job explaining why America made the world better, suddenly to just further more points that seemed to diverge further and further from America's supposed "greatness", and edge closer and closer toward political affairs. In fact, less than half the movie is actually the "Imagine the world without her".

Secondly, the documentary seems to lack crucial backing in areas where it should matter most. For example, D'Souza jumps to a huge assumption that a certain right-wing politician by the name of Alinsky is the sole cause- and nothing else- of America's degeneration. He implies that if this one man did not exist, America would be great, and keep being great. No one else. Not a single person would have the same natural argument as this one man. This naturally leads to a jumble of questions, all of which lead to more and more unrealistic and frankly ridiculous answers. This is NOT the only time he skips citation- He also proclaims that the aforementioned took inspiration from the devil, deems President Obama Alinsky's "disciple", and proclaims that recent protests made by the public have no motivation except for a single book.

Finally, The scope of this movie. it seems to be all over the place. Part American sympathy, part dramatic patriotism, and part demonization of anyone who happened to consider the valid points of the Wall street movement. Although convoluted, the movie covered each point; and somehow failing to flesh out every one of them.

This was not an unpleasant documentary to sit through- I enjoyed some of the impressive points and justifications made, as well as the quality and effort put into the movie in general. Sadly, it seemed to fall short in everything besides the listed boons.